Southwestern Louisiana Institute of Liberal and Technical Learning
Catholic University of America
University of Maryland
Dorothy Pocklington (born Dorothy Ann Butcher; 25 March 1934 – 3 October 2024) was a United States Army nurse. She was the first female member of the Army Reserve to attain the rank of brigadier general.[1]
Pocklington joined the Army Nurse Corps in August 1964 and was commissioned as a captain. She served on active duty for thirteen years, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel. Pocklington transferred to the Army Reserve and continued to serve for another seventeen years, attaining the rank of brigadier general in 1989.[4] As a general officer, she helped to mobilize 20,000 nurses and other Reserve personnel for the Gulf War.[1] Pocklington retired from the Army Reserve in April 1994. She remained an inactive member of the Army Nurse Corps until March 1999.[4]
Pocklington was the daughter of Curtis Harold Butcher and Lena Cecile (DelaHoussaye) Butcher.[2] She married Alvin Eugene Pocklington[5] on 28 November 1970 in Fort Myer, Virginia.[2] Her husband had enlisted as a seaman in the U.S. Navy, but transferred to the Army and retired from service as a sergeant.[5] He later worked in the field of biomedical electronics. The couple lived in Ellicott City, Maryland.[1] After his death, her husband was interred at Arlington National Cemetery on 1 July 2008.[5]
Pocklington died on 3 October 2024, at the age of 90.[6]
