Irene M. Zoppi Rodríguez (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Miller Rodríguez; born August 22, 1966), is a U.S. Army officer and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

. She is the first Puerto Rican woman to attain the rank of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

in the

U.S. Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. Since July 2020 ...

. Since February 2019, she has served as a deputy commanding general for

United States Army South United States Army South is an Army service component command of United States Southern Command whose area of responsibility includes 31 countries and 15 areas of special sovereignty in Central and South America and the Caribbean. It is headquart ...

, as the director of the Army Reserve Engagement Cell for Individual Mobilization Augmentees. Zoppi is an adjunct professor at

Strayer University Strayer University is a private for-profit university with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1892 as Strayer's Business College and later became Strayer College, before being granted university status in 1998. Strayer Univer ...

. She has worked as an instructor for the National Intelligence University where she directed the university's academic center within the

National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...

Early life and education

Zoppi was born and raised in the town of Canóvanas, Puerto Rico. Her grandmother and aunts encouraged her to pursue a career. When she was in eighth grade, Zoppi's grandfather pushed her to pursue an education. She attended the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

, joined the University's ROTC program and began her training in 1985 at the

University of Puerto Rico at Humacao The University of Puerto Rico, Humacao Campus (UPRH or UPR-Humacao) is a public college in Humacao, Puerto Rico. It is part of the University of Puerto Rico. Its campus is home to the UPRH Astronomical Observatory and the college graduates more m ...

campus. Zoppi continued her training in the Río Piedras Campus upon her transfer there. Zoppi began as

private first class Private first class (french: Soldat de 1 classe; es, Soldado de primera) is a military rank held by junior enlisted personnel in a number of armed forces. French speaking countries In France and other French speaking countries, the rank (; ) ...

and was assigned to the Military Police Corps at Fort McClellan in Alabama. Her nickname "Ramba", an allusion to the movie character Rambo, comes from this time. Zoppi completed a B.A. in Modern Languages from the University of Puerto Rico in 1988, after learning to speak five languages, Spanish, English, Italian, French and German. She was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the United States Army after her graduation. She earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Business Administration from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

in 2000. That same year she earned her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in Education Policy, Planning, and Administration from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

. In 2012, Zoppi earned a Master of Strategic Studies degree from the Army War College.

Military career

Zoppi was first sent overseas to Germany before being deployed to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

during the Persian Gulf War as part of

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. She served with the 3rd Armored Division-Spearhead as a special security officer and worked with the telecommunication centers. Among her duties as a special security officer was obtaining classified information from the internet, interpreting the information, labeling it, and making it available to her superiors. She was stationed in the area known as "The Valley of Death" where the oil fields were burning. This was one of the areas where the

Iraqis Iraqis ( ar, العراقيون, ku, گه‌لی عیراق, gelê Iraqê) are people who originate from the country of Iraq. Iraq consists largely of most of ancient Mesopotamia, the native land of the indigenous Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, ...

were trying to flee Kuwait. She described the experience as one of the culture shocks which she was subjected to. Prior culture shocks in her life included the culture of United States and that of Europe (specifically, Germany). Zoppi was present during the

liberation of Kuwait The Liberation of Kuwait was a U.S.-led military operation to retake Kuwait from Iraq after the massive air campaign, between 24–28 February 1991. U.S. troops and the Coalition entered to find the Iraqis surrendering en masse; however, pocket ...

and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. She also served in Iraq and Saudi Arabia during her deployment. Zoppi left the active component of the U.S. Army in 1995 as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and entered the U.S. Army Reserve. While serving in the reserves, Zoppi was promoted to major and later to lieutenant colonel. She served as the Battalion Commander for 11th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 104th Division (Leadership Development). She then became the Assistant J2/Chief Intelligence Officer for the National Capital Region Joint Task Force under United States Northern Command. Afterwards, she was the Battalion Commander of the 203rd Military Intelligence Battalion (Technical Intelligence), followed by promotion to

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and assignment as the Group Commander for the 3100th Strategic Intelligence Group. By 2015, she was serving as the Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff of 1st Mission Support Command, Ft. Buchanan, Puerto Rico. She was one of fifteen Latina colonels in the army reserves. Zoppi then served as the Army Reserve Element Commander and J2 of the 76th Operational Response Command with United States Southern Command. In September 2017, Zoppi was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Her promotion came with the appointment as deputy commanding general for the

200th Military Police Command The 200th Military Police Command is the senior Law enforcement agency, law enforcement unit within the United States Army Reserve, U.S. Army Reserve. The subordinate elements of the 200th MP Command are primarily military police units, but the com ...

. She is the first Puerto Rican woman promoted to the rank of general in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 2019, Zoppi was named director of the Army Reserve Engagement Cell and a deputy commanding general for

. In that capacity, she visited Honduras in May to observe reserve medical training there.

Academic career

As a civilian Zoppi has taught in the public school system of Maryland and also at various universities. She is a former adjunct professor,

College of Notre Dame Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a private Catholic university in Belmont, California. It is the third oldest college in California and the first college in the state authorized to grant the baccalaureate degree to women. In 2021, the u ...

, and former Research Associate at the Maryland Institute of Minority Achievement and Urban Education, University of Maryland. As a Professor in the Business and Education Departments at

, she was named 2012 Strayer University Faculty of the Year, and was a keynote speaker at the 2013 Latina Style Business Series conference, where she advocated for women to incorporate Latin American culture into their

business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...

s and cited the importance of community in Latina culture as an asset for companies. She has worked as an instructor for the National Intelligence University and director of the university's academic center within the

. She was appointed to the Maryland State Board of Education for a four-year term from 2017 to 2021. In 2020, she was appointed as the first Hispanic trustee of

Anne Arundel Community College Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) is a public community college in Arnold, Maryland. The college was founded in 1961 and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The community college offers letters of recognition, 4 ...

Accolades

*2009 – Listed as one of "Maryland's Top 100 Women" by the '' Daily Record'' *2012 – Strayer University Faculty of the Year Award *2013 – Knowlton Award of the Military Intelligence Corps Association See als
list of award recipients
*2015 – Latina of Influence Award by the Hispanic Lifestyle Magazine *

Kentucky Colonel Kentucky Colonel is the highest title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and is the most well-known of a number of honorary colonelcies conferred by United States governors. A Kentucky Colonel Commission (the certificate) is ...

, Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels.

Personal life

In 1988 Zoppi married Thomas Zoppi, a

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

veteran, now serves as a Law Enforcement Officer at, County Police. They have three children and two grandchildren.