Ann E. Dunwoody

Dunwoody was born in 1953[7] at Fort Belvoir, Virginia[8][9] to Elizabeth and Harold Dunwoody. Her father was a career army officer who retired as a brigadier general, and the family lived in Germany and Belgium while she was growing up. She graduated from Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) American High School in 1971.

At age 5, Dunwoody decided she wanted to become a doctor or nurse. Although she came from a family with a strong tradition of military service, she had very little interest in serving in the military. After high school Dunwoody attended State University of New York College at Cortland. During her junior year of college, Dunwoody attended a four-week Army introductory program that could be continued, if interested, with an eleven-week Women's Officer Orientation Course, which then led to a two-year commitment. In 1975 she committed, became a second lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps and attended the United States Army Airborne School. It was then that she realized the army was "an organization that was as values-based as the family I came out of, and to find probably my real passion was soldiering. I just didn't know it because I had never experienced it."[10]

Dunwoody in the Middle East during Operation Desert Shield or Operation Desert Storm

In 1975, Dunwoody graduated from State University of New York College at Cortland with a degree in physical education—Cortland is a Top Ten school in that field—and was direct commissioned into the Women's Army Corps. In an interview with the Military Logistics Forum, Dunwoody explained what drew her to become a soldier:

I grew up in the Army and came from a family who, since 1862, has defended our nation. My great grandfather, my grandfather, my father, my brother, my sister, my niece, and my husband are all veterans of this country's wars. My father is a veteran of three wars and is one of the 25 million veterans living today who served the nation with such incredible courage.
While I joined the Army right out of college, I planned to only stay in the Army to complete my two-year commitment, but it wasn’t too long before I realized that there are no other shoes [boots] I would rather fill than the ones I am wearing right now. As a soldier, you can continually serve. It is a calling to be a soldier and there is a great sense of pride and camaraderie in serving the greatest Army in the world.

Dunwoody's first assignment was as a platoon leader with the 226th Maintenance Company, 100th Supply and Services Battalion, Fort Sill, Oklahoma. During her 30 years as a Quartermaster Corps officer she commanded the 226th Maintenance Company Fort Sill, Oklahoma; 5th Quartermaster Detachment (Airborne) Kaiserslautern, Germany; the 407th Supply and Service Battalion/ 782d Main Support Battalion (MSB), Fort Bragg, North Carolina; the 10th Mountain Division Support Command (DISCOM), Fort Drum, New York; the 1st Corps Support Command (1st COSCOM), Fort Bragg, North Carolina; the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC)/Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), Alexandria, Virginia; and the Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), Fort Lee, Virginia.

Dunwoody's major staff assignments include service as the Parachute Officer, 82nd Airborne Division; strategic planner for the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA); Executive Officer to the Director, Defense Logistics Agency; and Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics G-4.

From May 1989 to May 1991, Dunwoody served as executive officer and later division parachute officer for the 407th Supply and Transportation Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, at Fort Bragg and deployed to Saudi Arabia for Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm.[11] in 2001, As the 1st Corps Support Command Commander she deployed the Logistics Task Force in support of Operation Enduring Freedom 1 and stood up the Joint Logistics Command in Uzbekistan in support of Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF)-180. As Commander of Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), she supported the largest deployment and redeployment of United States forces since World War II.

Career firsts

Dunwoody is pinned with her four stars by Army Chief of Staff General Casey and her husband Craig Brotchie at her promotion ceremony on November 14, 2008.

Among her notable firsts, she became the first woman to command a battalion in the 82nd Airborne Division in 1992. She became Fort Bragg's first female general officer in 2000. She became the first woman to command the Combined Arms Support Command at Fort Lee, Virginia, in 2004. And in 2005, Dunwoody became the first female soldier to achieve three-star rank since Lieutenant General Claudia J. Kennedy, the former Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, who retired in 2000.

On November 14, 2008, Dunwoody became the first woman in United States military history to achieve the rank of four-star general.[14] Her promotion ceremony was held at the Pentagon, with introductory speeches by United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates[15] and Army Chief of Staff General George W. Casey.[16]

Casey's successor as Army chief of staff, General Raymond T. Odierno, intended to recommend Dunwoody to succeed Air Force general Duncan J. McNabb as commander of the United States Transportation Command in 2011, which would have made her the first Army general to lead TRANSCOM as well as the first female combatant commander.[17] Dunwoody, citing the physical toll of her present duties, declined the offer, opting to retire after finishing her tour at AMC.[17] The aforementioned milestones were instead filled by Army general Stephen R. Lyons and Air Force general Lori J. Robinson respectively.

• Graduated from the State University of New York College at Cortland in 1975, receiving a bachelor's degree in Physical Education.
• Quartermaster Officers’ Basic Course and Basic Airborne School in 1976
• Quartermaster Officers Advanced Course
• Command and General Staff College
• Master of Science Degree in Logistics Management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1988.
• Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 1995.
• United States Army Jumpmaster Course graduate.

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi with General Dunwoody during the Yankees vs. New York Mets game on June 14, 2009.

Dunwoody was born to Harold and Elizabeth Dunwoody. She has two siblings: Harold H. "Buck" Dunwoody (First Lieutenant-Army), and Susan Schoeck (Army pilot). In 1989 she married Colonel Craig Brotchie, USAF. They have no children, but own a dog named Barney. Dunwoody currently lives with her husband in Tampa, Florida where her brother and sister live, and where her husband currently serves on the board of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.[18]

Dunwoody has a long family history of United States military service—going back five generations.[15] She grew up in a military household. Her great-grandfather, Brigadier General Henry Harrison Chase Dunwoody, a 1866 graduate of the United States Military Academy, was the Chief Signal Officer in Cuba from 1898 to 1901.[16] Her father retired from the United States Army as a brigadier general in 1973. Brigadier General Dunwoody is a highly decorated veteran of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.[16] He was badly wounded in France during World War II and earned the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery while serving as a battalion commander in the Korean War.[16] As a brigadier general, he commanded the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) during the Vietnam War. Her brother, Harold H. "Buck" Dunwoody Jr. is a 1970 West Point graduate. Her older sister, Susan Schoeck, was the third woman in the army to become a helicopter pilot.[19] Her niece, Jennifer Schoeck, is a United States Air Force fighter pilot.[19]

Dunwoody is the daughter of Harold Dunwoody, her inspiration "My own personal hero is my dad, he is a proud World War II, Korea, Vietnam veteran," she said. "And he was a real soldier's soldier. And much of who I am is founded on what I learned from my dad, as a soldier, as a patriot, and as a father."[20]

Dunwoody's military awards and decorations include:[21]

	Master Parachutist Badge
	Parachute Rigger Badge
	Army Staff Identification Badge
	82nd Infantry Division Combat Service Identification Badge
	Silver German Parachutist Badge
	U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps Distinctive Unit Insignia

	Army Distinguished Service Medal (with one bronze oak leaf cluster)
	Defense Superior Service Medal
	Legion of Merit (with two bronze oak leaf clusters)
	Defense Meritorious Service Medal
	Meritorious Service Medal with six oak leaf clusters
	Army Commendation Medal
	Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters
	Joint Meritorious Unit Award
	Meritorious Unit Commendation with four oak leaf clusters
	National Defense Service Medal (with one service star)
	Southwest Asia Service Medal (with two service stars)
	Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
	Armed Forces Reserve Medal
	Army Service Ribbon
	Army Overseas Service Ribbon
	French National Order of Merit (degree unknown)
	Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)
	Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)

• List of female United States military generals and flag officers

• "Dunwoody confirmed as first female four-star". United States Army. Army News Service. July 24, 2008.
• U.S. Army Public Affairs (July 23, 2008). "Senate Confirms Dunwoody July 23 for 4th Star" (Press release). United States Army.
• Kruzel, John J. (June 23, 2008). "President Nominates Woman Army General for Fourth Star". U.S. Department of Defense. American Forces Press Service.
• "First female four-star U.S. Army general nominated". CNN. June 23, 2008.
• Swarns, Rachel L. (June 30, 2008). "Commanding a Role for Women in the Military". New York Times.
• White, Josh (June 24, 2008). "Army General's Nomination Called Historic". Washington Post. p. A02. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010.
• Burns, Robert (June 23, 2008). "Dunwoody to Become First Female Four Star General". Huffington Post.
• Dunwoody, LtGen. Ann E. (August 25, 2008). "Quote". United States Army.
• Smith, Steven J. (July 21, 2008). "Dad proud of daughter in line to be 4-star". Army Times.
• Joyner, James (August 25, 2005). "Ann Dunwoody Tapped for Third Star". Outside the Beltway.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ann E. Dunwoody.

Wikiquote has quotations related to Ann E. Dunwoody.

• "General Ann Dunwoody promotion ceremony". Defense Department New Media. U.S. Pentagon: DodvClips.mil. November 14, 2008. Archived from the original (video (47 minutes)) on April 23, 2009.
• "First female four-star general (photo set)" (Photo stream from army.mil). Flickr.com.
• "Women in the U.S. Army". United States Army.
• "U.S. Army Materiel Command (AMC) website". United States Army. Archived from the original on November 12, 2008. Retrieved November 15, 2008.
• AnnDunwoody.com. Official website.
• Complete text, audio, video of Ann Dunwoody's Speech at the 4-Star Promotion Ceremony at AmericanRhetoric.com