Brigadier General Anne F. Macdonald Bio
Brigadier General Anne F. Macdonald
US Army Retired
President
U.S. Army Women’s Foundation
Brigadier General Anne Macdonald graduated from West Point in 1980 in the first gender-integrated class, and served 31 years in the Army leading and building highly effective teams. Anne is a senior Army aviator qualified as a UH1 and UH60 Blackhawk pilot, a paratrooper, and is air assault qualified. Anne served 4 years in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and XVIII Airborne Corps, 7 years in the Republic of Korea, 2 1/2 years in Germany before, during, and after the fall of the Iron Curtain and 6 years as a General Officer. She was the first active component combat arms (aviator) female to be promoted to General Officer.
She commanded a General Support Aviation Battalion in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky and later, commanded the 17th Aviation Brigade in the Republic of Korea. As the Deputy Commanding General of First Army, Division West, she was responsible for the combat training and mobilization of all Army Reserve and National Guard units in the United States west of the Mississippi. She completed two combat tours, one in Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait, the other in Operation Enduring Freedom as the Deputy Commanding General for the NATO Training Mission (Police Development) in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Key assignments in the Army include serving as the Deputy Director of Operations, National Military Command Center, Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Pentagon; Deputy Commanding General, 7th Infantry Division and Fort Carson, Colorado later redesignated First Army Division West and Fort Carson; and Chief of Staff, United States Army Reserve Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia.
She holds a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy and two master’s degrees; one in System’s Management from the University of Southern California and the other in Strategic Studies from the US Air War College, Montgomery, Alabama.
Anne retired from active duty in 2011 as a Brigadier General with multiple awards and distinctions. She has over 20 plus years of executive-level leadership experience and has developed and trained high-performing organizations worldwide. Anne is a certified executive coach and seminar facilitator with True Growth Leadership and serves as a senior mentor for the US Army. She currently is the President of the US Army Women’s Foundation, a non-profit organization honoring Army women’s service, past and present, through educational programs, research, and scholarships. Anne has been a presenter and participant in dozens of inspirational, educational and leadership webinars and seminars.
Anne has been married for 33 years to John Macdonald, a retired Army flag officer, they currently are enjoying life while working in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.