Brigadier General Colleen L. McGuire is a retired officer of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. She was the Commanding General of the

United States Army Criminal Investigation Command The United States Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID or DACID), previously known as the United States Army Criminal Investigation Command (USACIDC), is the primary federal law enforcement agency of the United States Depa ...

and the 13th Provost Marshal General, the first woman to hold either position. McGuire was also the first woman to be commandant of the

United States Disciplinary Barracks The United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB), colloquially known as Leavenworth, is a military correctional facility located on Fort Leavenworth, a United States Army post in Kansas. It is one of two major prisons built on Fort Leavenwort ...

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth, Kansas, Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., an ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Early life and education

McGuire grew up in

Missoula, Montana Missoula ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Missoula County, Montana, United States. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluence with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five ...

, in a military household as the oldest of six children. Her father served 30 years in the

United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...

. McGuire graduated from

Sentinel High School Sentinel High School is a four-year public high school in the western United States, located in Missoula, Montana. In the Missoula County Public Schools District No. 1., Sentinel has approximately 1,300 students, and a faculty of approximate ...

in 1975. While in high school, she started in the Army Reserves. She attended the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana, United States. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. Fall 2024 saw total enrollment hit 10,811, marki ...

(UM), graduating in 1979. McGuire was a radio/television major at UM and a member of the

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...

squad, the school's Women's Rugby Club, and was a member of the

Delta Gamma Delta Gamma (), commonly known as DG, is a North American women's fraternity. It was established in 1873 at the Lewis School for Girls in Oxford, Mississippi. It has 151 collegiate chapters and more than 200 alumnae groups. The organization's exe ...

sorority. Also at the university, she was involved in the

Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

(ROTC). McGuire was a member of the 279th Engineer Company at Fort Missoula through the ROTC Simultaneous Membership Program. At that time her father, William McGuire, was the

first sergeant First sergeant is typically a senior non-commissioned officer rank, used in many countries. Singapore First sergeant is a Specialist (Singapore), specialist in the Singapore Armed Forces. First sergeants are the most senior of the junior spe ...

of the company.

Military career

McGuire was commissioned as an officer in the

United States Army Military Police Corps The United States Army Military Police Corps (USAMPC) is the uniformed law enforcement branch of the United States Army. Investigations are conducted by Military Police investigators under the Provost Marshal General's Office or special agents ...

in 1979 upon graduation from the

. She first served in Germany with the 709th Military Police Battalion. In 1989, McGuire worked as a staff officer for the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs in

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

. She was deployed to

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

in 1993 and 1994. McGuire was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1996. She became the commander of the 705th Military Police Battalion in

in 1998. When the

at Fort Leavenworth were re-opened in 2002, McGuire became the first woman in charge of the prison. She went on to work as the assistant commandant of the United States Army Military Police School. Starting in 2007, McGuire served 18 months as the

provost marshal Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French (Modern French ). While a provost marshal is now usually a senior c ...

of the multinational corps in Iraq. She was the first woman to serve as a provost marshal in the United States. McGuire was also the senior advisor to the corps commander stationed in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. In Iraq, she took fire while traveling by

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

and was there when a bullet passed through her barracks. In 2008, she was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. Also in 2008, she led the Army Suicide Prevention Task Force. Brig

McGuire became the 13th Provost Marshal General of the Army, and first woman to hold the office, on 15 January 2010, commanding the

(CID). In 2012, McGuire retired from the army. The next year, she started working for

Secretary of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Chuck Hagel Charles Timothy Hagel ( ; born October 4, 1946)sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

in the army. McGuire also worked as the Executive Director of

fraternity in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

.Phillips, Jeb
"Ex-general leads fellow women to help vets"
''

The Columbus Dispatch ''The Columbus Dispatch'' is a daily newspaper based in Columbus, Ohio. Its first issue was published on July 1, 1871, and it has been the only mainstream daily newspaper in the city since ''The Columbus Citizen-Journal'' ceased publication in ...

'', February 11, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2020. In 2014, she moved to

Kalispell, Montana Kalispell (, Salish-Spokane-Kalispel language, Montana Salish: Ql̓ispé, Kutenai language: Kqayaqawakⱡuʔnam) is a city in Montana and the county seat of Flathead County, Montana, United States. The 2020 census put Kalispell's population at ...

, to spend more time with family. McGuire also owns a

cattle ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

Eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost countie ...

Honors

McGuire was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

and a

Bronze Star Medal The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...

, among other military decorations and awards. In 2010 McGuire was awarded the University of Montana Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2019, McGuire was inducted into the US Army Women's Hall of Fame.

References

External links

Engaging the leadership (U.S. Army Suicide Prevention Task Force, part 1)
2010 video {{DEFAULTSORT:McGuire, Colleen L. United States Army personnel of the Iraq War Female generals of the United States Army Living people Recipients of the Legion of Merit Year of birth missing (living people) Delta Gamma University of Montana alumni 21st-century American women