The British army has appointed its first female general. Susan Ridge will be promoted to the rank of major general in September when she will become the army’s top legal adviser.

Ridge, 52, will be the new director general army legal services (DGALS), responsible for advising commanding officers on discipline and complaints. The role has taken on added significance in light of court rulings enforcing human rights legislation in the armed forces, and a growing number of complaints about the conduct of service personnel, including sexism.

Ridge, a qualified solicitor, said: “I am still slightly stunned. It feels slightly daunting, but I am very conscious that it’s a great honour and privilege.” She said she was “exceptionally lucky” that her lieutenant colonel husband, whom she would not name, had been “hugely supportive of my work”.

He took on “much of the responsibility of managing family and home life while also juggling his own career,” she said. “There have been occasions when he has been posted away, we have done long periods of weekend commuting and he has done tours in the Balkans and Afghanistan. But largely it has worked so well because he has been on-side.”

General Sir Nicholas Carter, the head of the army, said: “I am very pleased for Sue, she is a talented and committed officer who is widely respected throughout the army.”

Female soldiers make up only 8.9% of the 82,000-strong British army, and Carter has said he would like to see that figure rise to 15% in five years. He wants soldiers to be given the opportunity to job share, work part-time or choose flexible hours, and to make the army a more modern employer.

“If you are working in a job that is not at high readiness in an operational unit, there is absolutely no reason why you should not perhaps be able to parade a bit later in the morning so that your children will be able to be dropped at the school,” he said last month.

Women have been promoted into similarly senior ranks elsewhere. Two years ago, Elaine West was promoted to what was then the highest rank ever held by a woman in the armed forces, when she was made an RAF air vice-marshal.

The army is considering whether to open up combat roles on the frontline to female soldiers for the first time. Women are banned from ground combat units “where the primary role is to close with and kill the enemy”. The rule means women are barred from some roles in infantry battalions, and from the Royal Marines.

Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, has said he hopes the ban will be relaxed as early as next year. A six-month review overseen by Carter is believed to have dismissed concerns in the Ministry of Defence that the change would disrupt the effectiveness or morale of combat units.

Commanders have now commissioned more research into the physiological strains placed on women in combat jobs, and a final decision is expected next year.

