MONTGOMERY (AP) — A woman, for the first time, has been named the new leader of the Alabama National Guard.

In a change of command ceremony Saturday at the Guard’s headquarters in Montgomery, Maj. Gen. Sheryl Gordon, a native of Selma, was recognized. Gov. Kay Ivey announced June 17 that Gordon would replace Maj. Gen. Perry Smith, who is retiring after 6½ years in the post.

Al.com reports Ivey said during the ceremony that, “Sometimes, you know, the best man for a job is a woman.”

Gordon officially takes command Tuesday.

Gordon was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Alabama Army National Guard in 1981 and has served in multiple command roles throughout the state.

She holds bachelor’s degrees from Birmingham-Southern College and Auburn University and a master’s in education administration from Auburn University at Montgomery.