First sisters to become Army generals say it was ‘not a game of chance. It is hard work.’

One sister had wanted to be a soldier since she was young; the other planned to have a career in the Foreign Service. Both marked a milestone for the U.S. Army this summer: Maj. Gen. Maria Barrett and Brig. Gen. Paula Lodi are believed to be the first pair of sisters to become generals, the military branch’s highest category of rank.

“The fact that both of us would have come from the same family, it almost makes you want to go out and get a lottery ticket,” Barrett told The Washington Post. “Except, this is not a game of chance. It is hard work, it is strong leadership skills, it’s strong technical competency. Then you realize that this is a very tough bar in and of itself for both of us to make it.”

Their rise to the general’s rank signals to younger soldiers that women can fill prestigious leadership roles in many sectors of the traditionally male-dominated Army, said Emma Moore, a research assistant for the military, veterans and society program at the Center for a New American Security, a bipartisan think tank that studies national security.

Read the full article and more in The Washington Post.