Pasco native promoted to Army brigadier general

A Pasco native who's blazed a trail in her Army career has been promoted to general.

Col. Joy L. (Ebberson) Curriera, who works in the office of the Army chief of staff in Arlington, Va. is being promoted to brigadier general. The Senate confirmed the appointments in October.

A brigadier general is the lowest rank of general.

Curriera was part of Pasco High School's Class of 1986 and became the school's first female graduate to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.. She was inducted into the Pasco High School hall of fame in 2002.

She spent most of her high school and college careers playing volleyball, according to Pasco High School. She served as volleyball captain on the high school's varsity team and lettered all four years of college in the sport.

Curriera graduated from West Point with a degree in engineering.

Throughout her career in the Army, Curriera's "firsts" continued. In 2013, she became the first female commander of U.S. Army Garrison Japan.

Curriera's parents, Jim and Cindy Ebberson, live in Pasco.