Lori Robinson (born January 27, 1959, Big Spring, Texas, U.S.) is a U.S. Air Force (USAF) general who served (2016–18) as commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM), becoming the highest-ranking woman in United States military history.
Robinson’s family was steeped in military tradition. Her father was an Air Force fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, and he retired as a colonel. Robinson joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program while at the University of New Hampshire, and in 1981 she graduated with a degree in English and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. By 1986 Robinson, now a captain, was serving as the first female instructor at the USAF Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. She was promoted to major in 1994 and held a series of increasingly senior commands over the subsequent decade. In 2006–07 she served as USAF liaison to the U.S. House of Representatives, and she was promoted to brigadier general in 2008. Robinson rose through the general ranks relatively quickly, and she pinned on her fourth star when she took command of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) in October 2014.
On May 13, 2016, Robinson became the highest-ranking woman in United States military history when she assumed command of NORAD and NORTHCOM. Although NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canadian command, and NORTHCOM, tasked with defense of the U.S. homeland, had complementary missions, each presented unique challenges for a commander. NORAD was founded in 1958, just months after the launch of Sputnik, and the command’s heavily fortified Cheyenne Mountain complex (since relegated to alternate command centre status) remained one of the most-enduring symbols of the Cold War. NORTHCOM, established in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, represented the shifting U.S. defense posture in regard to asymmetric threats to the country. Throughout her career Robinson’s assignments had focused on aerospace control and airborne battle management, making her well suited to identifying, analyzing, and responding to evolving threats in some of the most heavily trafficked airspace on Earth.
Many in the media were quick to focus on Robinson’s gender, but her background was arguably even more noteworthy. The upper echelons of air force command historically had been dominated by fighter pilots; this practice, in itself, had acted as a brake on female advancement (women were not allowed to fly fighter aircraft in the USAF until 1993). Robinson was not a pilot, and her flying experience had been with the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft and the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) platform. While she was just the second woman in USAF history to hold the rank of general, she was the first air battle manager to do so. The promotion of a career battlefield manager to a combat command post represented a sharp break with tradition, but it was reflective of the changing nature of the air force. The ability to project conventional air power remained a priority, but increasing funds and effort were being directed at unmanned and remotely piloted aircraft.
Robinson stepped down as commander of NORAD and NORTHCOM in May 2018. Shortly thereafter she retired from active service.