Brigadier General Patricia L. Nilo was born in Medford, Massachusetts and entered the military through a direct commission as First Lieutenant in the Women’s Army Corps in 1974. Detailed to the Ordnance Corps in a chemical specialty, she re-branched to the Chemical Corps in 1977.

Brigadier General Nilo held numerous command and staff positions in her 30 year military career, with many upper level nuclear, biological, and chemical-related staff assignments in the Pentagon. In 1999, she became the first female Commandant of the United States Army Chemical School.

Brigadier General Nilo was a strong advocate of the woman’s role in the Corps, having been commissioned as its first female general officer. She finished up her military career as Director of the Weapons Elimination Directorate Defense Threat Reduction Agency, having spent her entire career in the framework of the chemical and biological field.