Brigadier General Anne F. Macdonald, US Army, Retired

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 is the first active component female Army Aviator 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 7th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, later redesignated as First Army, Division West, Fort Carson, 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. 

Other key assignments in the Army include serving as the Deputy Director of Operations, National Military Command Center, Joint Chiefs of Staff, The Pentagon, and Chief of Staff, United States Army Reserve Command, Fort McPherson, Georgia. 

Macdonald 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.  

She 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 served as a senior mentor for the US Army’s Strategic Leader Develop Seminar, US Army War College for five years.  She is the recipient of the West Point Society of DC’s 2024 Castle Memorial Award. From 2016-2024, she served as the President of the US Army Women’s Foundation, a non-profit organization honoring Army women’s service.  Anne has been a presenter and participant in dozens of inspirational, educational and leadership webinars and seminars. She currently serves as a board member with the Fort Campbell Historical Foundation. 

Anne has been married for 36 years to John Macdonald, a retired Army flag officer, they currently are enjoying life while working in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.