Tracey Poirier

Last updated
Tracey Poirier
Tracey Poirier (US Army brigadier general).jpg
Poirier as a colonel in 2021
Born1974 (age 49–50)
Service United States Marine Corps
United States Army
Years of service1991–Present
Rank Brigadier General
Unit Vermont National Guard
Commands 186th Brigade Support Battalion
124th Regiment (Regional Training Institute)
Known for Norwich University's first Rhodes Scholar
Wars Iraq War
Awards Bronze Star Medal
Meritorious Service Medal (3)
Army Commendation Medal (2)
Army Achievement Medal
Alma mater Norwich University (B.A.)
University of Oxford (M.St., M.S.)
United States Army War College (MSS)
Spouse(s)Leonard J. Poirier
Children4
Other workAssistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Norwich University

Tracey Poirier (b. 1974) is an officer in the Army National Guard. A veteran of the United States Marine Corps and United States Army, she has served in the military since 1991, and has been the director of the joint staff for the Vermont National Guard since 2022. Poirier's command assignments included the 186th Brigade Support Battalion (2013 to 2016) and 124th Regiment (Regional Training Institute) (2019 to 2021). She was promoted to brigadier general in July 2023, and her awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, and Army Achievement Medal.

Contents

Early life

Tracey L. (Jones) Poirier was born in 1974 and is originally from Genesee, Pennsylvania. [1] [2] A 1992 graduate of Northern Potter High School, she was her class valedictorian. [3] [4] Poirier joined the United States Army Reserve in 1991, and served as a unit supply specialist in Wellsville, New York. [5]

Poirier attended Norwich University with a Reserve Officers' Training Corps scholarship from 1992 to 1996. [5] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Media Communications. [5] Poirier was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, a first for a Norwich University graduate, and studied at Hertford College of the University of Oxford, where she received a Master of Studies degree in Social Anthropology in 1997 and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management in 1998. [5] [6] [7]

Start of career

Poirier served in the Marines for eight years, including postings with United States Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, and at Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii. [5] While stationed in Hawaii, she deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. [5]

Poirier joined the Vermont Army National Guard in 2006, and her assignments included company commander, Tactical Information Operations Course instructor, and personnel staff officer (S-1) of the 124th Regiment (Regional Training Institute). [5] She later served as S-1 of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team's rear detachment during the brigade's deployment to Afghanistan, and support operations officer for the 186th Brigade Support Battalion. [5]

Continued career

Poirier commanded the 186th Brigade Support Battalion from September 2013 to April 2016. [5] She then attended the United States Army War College (AWC), from which she graduated in June 2017 with a Master of Strategic Studies degree. [5] Poirier was an AWC Carlisle Scholar as well as a Distinguished Graduate. [5] In 2017 and 2018, Poirier again served in Iraq, this time with Joint Special Operations Command. [5] She commanded the 124th Regiment from April 2019 to April 2021. [5] She was the first female commander of the 124th Regiment Regional Training Institute. [8]

In January 2021, Poirier left her position as assistant vice president for student affairs at Norwich University to become the full-time chief of staff for the Vermont Army National Guard. [5] In May 2022, she was assigned as the Vermont National Guard's full-time director of the joint staff. [5] She was promoted to brigadier general in July 2023, to date from November 2022, the first female member of the Vermont Army National Guard to attain general officer's rank. [2] [5]

Family

Poirier is married to Colonel Leonard J. Poirier, who assumed command of the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in 2022. [5] [9] They are the parents of four children, and reside in Barre Town. [5]

Awards

Poirier's awards include: [10]

In 2018, Norwich University began construction of a memorial staircase to commemorate the bicentennial of the school's 1819 founding. [11] The steps were built between the southeast corner of the Upper Parade Ground and the Sullivan Museum and History Center, and contain the names of 78 prominent individuals, including Poirier, who are associated with the university. [11]

Effective dates of promotion

Poirier's effective dates of promotion are: [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Dubie</span> American politician from Vermont

Brian E. Dubie is an American politician who was the 80th lieutenant governor of Vermont from 2003 to 2011. He lost the 2010 election for governor of Vermont by fewer than 5,000 votes. He is a member of the Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vermont National Guard</span> Unit of the US Army National Guard for the State of Vermont

The Vermont National Guard is composed of the Vermont Army National Guard and the Vermont Air National Guard. Together, they are collectively known as the Green Mountain Boys. Both units use the original Revolutionary War-era Flag of the Green Mountain Boys as their banner. In 2009, they had 2,600 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Baccus</span> United States Army general

Rick Baccus is a retired Army National Guard Brigadier General. Baccus received a regular Army commission in 1974 as an Infantry Officer through the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program and immediately entered active duty. He is most noted for commanding the Guantanamo Bay detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Rainville</span> American politician

Martha T. Rainville is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who attained the rank of major general. She was the first woman in U.S. history to become a state adjutant general when she served in that post with the Vermont National Guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaac D. White</span> United States Army general (1901–1990)

Isaac Davis White was a senior officer in the United States Army who commanded the U.S. Army, Pacific (USARPAC) from July 1957 to March 1961. He was commissioned in the cavalry in 1923 and went on to serve in World War II and the Korean War. Because of his extensive experience in tank warfare, at his retirement Armor magazine dubbed him "Mr. Armor".

Leo Austin Brooks Jr. is a retired brigadier general of the United States Army. The Brooks family is noted for its military accolades and public service, as his brother is Army General Vincent K. Brooks, and their father Leo A. Brooks Sr. was a major general in the United States Army. His uncle, Francis K. Brooks, was the majority leader of the Vermont House of Representatives and a member of the Vermont Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team</span> US Army National Guard light infantry brigade

The 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) ("The Vermont Brigade") is an Army National Guard light infantry brigade headquartered in Vermont. It was reorganized from an armored brigade into an Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) as part of the United States Army's transformation for the 21st century. The 86th IBCT utilizes the Army Mountain Warfare School, co-located at Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho, Vermont, to train in individual military mountaineering skills so the entire brigade can be skilled in such warfare. This large conventional unit level mountain warfare capability had been lost when the 10th Mountain Division deactivated after World War II. This left the 86th IBCT as the only mountain warfare unit in the U.S. military whose soldiers were trained in mountain warfare, with individual soldiers being graduates of Ranger School, the Special Forces Advanced Mountain Operations School, and the Army Mountain Warfare School instead of entire units that specialized in such tactics. "The Vermont Brigade" configured itself to be such a unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard F. Wing</span> United States Army general

Leonard Fish Wing Sr., nicknamed "Red", was a Vermont political figure and a division commander in the United States Army during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">86th Field Artillery Regiment</span> Military unit

The 86th Field Artillery Regiment is a inactive parent field artillery regiment of the United States Army, last represented in the Vermont Army National Guard by the 1st Battalion, 86th Field Artillery Regiment. Perpetuating the Vermont Light Artillery Batteries of the American Civil War and subsequent Vermont artillery units, the regiment was organized following World War II as the 206th Field Artillery Battalion in the Vermont National Guard. The 206th saw active service in Germany with the 43rd Infantry Division during the Korean War, and became the 124th Artillery, a Combat Arms Regimental System parent regiment, in 1959. Represented by the 1st Howitzer Battalion, 124th Artillery, the regiment was renumbered as the 86th Artillery in 1964 when the 1st Battalion became the brigade artillery battalion of the 86th Armored Brigade. The 1st Battalion served in that role with the brigade for much of the rest of its existence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joyce L. Stevens</span>

Major General Joyce "Joy" Stevens is a retired senior officer in the United States Army National Guard and the first female general officer in the Texas Army National Guard. She was promoted to brigadier general on 14 July 2006 and to major general on 5 August 2010. She served as assistant to the Adjutant General of the Texas Military Forces and dually titled as the Commander of the Texas Army National Guard, commanding approximately 19,000 soldiers and 117 armories in 102 communities across Texas.

Ralph D. Townsend was a brigadier general in the Idaho Air National Guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael D. Navrkal</span>

Michael D. Navrkal is a retired major general in the Army National Guard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce M. Lawlor</span> American politician

Major General (Retired) Bruce M. Lawlor is a retired United States Army officer. He is prominent as the first commander of Joint Task Force-Civil Support. In addition, he was one of five White House staff members who wrote the plan to create the Department of Homeland Security, and he was the first DHS Chief of Staff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald E. Edwards</span> American state military officer

Donald E. Edwards was an American military officer. He was most notable for his service as adjutant general of the State of Vermont from 1981 to 1997. The adjutant general is the senior uniformed officer in the state and responsible for the organization, training and equipping of nearly 4,000 members of the Vermont Army and Air National Guard. His position as Adjutant General also included appointment as Inspector General and Quartermaster General, and head of the State Military Department, including the Veterans Affairs office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Thaddeus Austin</span> United States Army general

Fred Thaddeus Austin was an American military officer who attained the rank of major general as the United States Army's Chief of Field Artillery.

David O'Donahue is the Deputy Adjutant General-Civil Support of the Wisconsin National Guard with the rank of Brigadier General.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregory C. Knight</span> United States Army officer

Gregory C. Knight is a United States Army officer. In 2019, he was selected to serve as Adjutant General of Vermont.

Roma Amundson is a retired U.S. Brigadier General and retired Assistant Adjutant General-Army for the Nebraska National Guard in Lincoln, Nebraska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas D. Kinley</span> US Army major general

Thomas D. Kinley is a retired business executive and Army National Guard officer. He served in the Army National Guard from 1966 to 1999, and attained the rank of major general as commander of the 42nd Infantry Division.

References

  1. ↑ "Student Notes: Norwich student a Rhodes Scholar". The Burlington Free Press . Burlington, VT. December 12, 1995. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 Guha, Auditi (July 29, 2023). "Vermont National Guard: Woman receives historic promotion". Valley News . Lebanon, NH. p. A2 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ "Honor Rolls: Northern Potter High School". Star-Gazette . Elmira, NY. May 2, 1992. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Other Commencement Exercises". Star-Gazette . Elmira, NY. June 5, 1992 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Biography, Colonel Tracey Poirier, Director of the Joint Staff". vt.public.ng.mil. Colchester, VT: Vermont National Guard. 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Speakers Bureau Biography: Tracey Jones Poirier". American Rhodes.org. Vienna, VA: The Association of American Rhodes Scholars. 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  7. ↑ Povey, Alicia, ed. (2019). "With Our Thanks: Donors By Matriculation" (PDF). Hertford College Donor Report. Oxford, England: Hertford College. p. 32.
  8. ↑ Bendavid, Ike (8 April 2019). "Vermont National Guard welcomes new commander". www.wcax.com.
  9. ↑ Bouchard, Tabitha (June 4, 2022). "86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) Change of Command Ceremony". Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS). Colchester, VT. Retrieved September 5, 2023– via Vermont National Guard Public Affairs.
  10. ↑ "Norwich University alumna Tracey Poirier made history when she was officially promoted as the Vermont Army National Guard's (VANG) first female brigadier general". Facebook.com/NorwichUniversity. Northfield, VT: Norwich University. July 27, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Blaisdell, Eric (April 24, 2018). "Norwich picks names for bicentennial memorial". Barre Montpelier Times Argus . Barre, VT. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  12. ↑ General Officer Management Office (November 17, 2023). "Biography, Brigadier General Tracey Poirier". Senior Leader Management Office. Arlington, VA: National Guard Bureau. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.