Ann E. Dunwoody

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 has a long family history of U.S. military service – going back five generations. She grew up in a military household, the daughter of Elizabeth (died 2006, age 81) and Harold H. Dunwoody (born Jan. 9, 1919- died Sept 6, 2015, age 96) in Englewood, Florida).

Dunwoody officially retired from the U.S. Army after 37 years on August 15, 2012.

Dunwoody participated with First Lady Michelle Obama in a forum for promising girls in Washington, D.C. public schools in March 2009.

In 2005 Dunwoody became the Army's top-ranking female when she received the promotion to lieutenant general (three stars) and became the Army's Deputy Chief of Staff, G-4 (logistics). She was nominated as Commanding General, U.S. Army Materiel Command, by President George W. Bush on June 23, 2008, and confirmed by the Senate one month later. She served in that capacity until August 7, 2012, and retired from the Army on August 15, 2012.

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

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 LTG Claudia J. Kennedy, the former Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, who retired in 2000.

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. 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 U.S. forces since World War II.

Dunwoody was born to Harold and Elizabeth Dunwoody. She has two siblings: Harold H. Dunwoody “Buck” (First Lieutenant-Army), and Susan Schoeck (Army Pilot). In 1989 she married Colonel Craig Brotchie, USAF (retired). 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.

Her 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.

At age 5, Dunwoody decided she wanted nothing more than 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 and became a 2nd lieutenant in the Quartermaster Corps where she learned to jump from airplanes. 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."

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:

Her brother, Harold H. "Buck" Dunwoody Jr. is a 1970 West Point graduate.

Ann Elizabeth Dunwoody (born January 14, 1953) is a retired general of the United States Army. She is the first woman in U.S. military and uniformed service history to achieve a four-star officer rank, receiving her fourth star on November 14, 2008.

Dunwoody was born in 1953 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia to Elizabeth and Harold Dunwoody. Her father was a career Army officer, 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.

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 has commanded the 226th Maintenance Company Fort Sill, OK; 5th Quartermaster Detachment (Airborne) Kaiserslautern, Germany; the 407th Supply and Service Battalion/ 782d Main Support Battalion (MSB), Fort Bragg, NC; the 10th Mountain Division Support Command (DISCOM), Fort Drum, NY; the 1st Corps Support Command (1st COSCOM), Fort Bragg, NC; the Military Traffic Management Command (MTMC)/Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC), Alexandria, VA; and the Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM), Fort Lee, VA.

Her great-grandfather, Brigadier General Henry Harrison Chase Dunwoody, an 1866 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, was the Chief Signal Officer in Cuba from 1898 to 1901. Her father retired from the U.S. 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. 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. As a Brigadier General, he commanded the 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) during the Vietnam War.

"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."