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General Johnnie Wilson, US Army (Ret)

Former Commanding General, US Army Materiel Command

Johnnie Wilson is a retired Four-Star United States Army General. His generous service to the Ordnance Corps led to him being inducted into the Ordnance Corps Hall of Fame. Wilson was born on February 4, 1944 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father worked in a steel mill and his mother worked part-time at a movie theater. Wilson is the second oldest of 12 kids. He is married to Helen McGhee and the couple have three children: Johnnie, Jr., Charlene, and Scott. 


Wilson entered the Army in 1961 as an enlisted soldier and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He served 2 years in the 7th Special Forces Group prior to attending Officer Candidate School (OCS). Upon his completion of OCS in 1967, he became a Second Lieutenant in the Ordnance Corps. The following year he was promoted to First Lieutenant and the year after that, Captain. From 1969 to 1970, Wilson spent a year in South Vietnam where he served as Commander of Company C, 173rd Support Battalion (Airborne). In 1971, he studied at the United States Army Ordnance School at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. He then obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1973. While in Omaha, Wilson became very involved with his community by becoming the president of university’s Pen and Sword Society representing veterans on the campus. Further, he served as a student representative on the campus legislature. Wilson also earned his Master of Science in Logistics Management from the Florida Institute of Technology in 1977. 

In 1988 when Wilson was still a Colonel, he was assigned to serve as the interim Deputy Commanding General, 21st TAACOM, the most diverse logistics unit in the Army. The acronym stands for Theater Army Area Command and this unit was responsible for preparing for war with the Soviet Union and supporting major operations in neighboring theaters. In 1989, Wilson was promoted to Brigadier General and in 1994 he became a Lieutenant General. From 1994 to 1996, Wilson was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics for the U.S. Army in Washington D.C. In 1996, he was promoted to Four-Star General. Because of his success, Wilson was quickly promoted to Commanding General of the United States Army Materiel Command. With this position, Wilson was in charge of 68,000 people (most of whom were civilians) in 350 different locations around the world. During his service he served five overseas tours : Germany(3),France and Vietnam. 

General Wilson retired from the military in 1999 after 39 years of service. The awards and people (most of whom were civilians) in 350 different locations around the world.  During his service he served five overseas tours : Germany(3),France and Vietnam. 


General Wilson retired from the military in 1999 after 39 years of service. The awards and decorations Wilson received in the military include the Distinguished Service Medal (with oak leaf cluster), the Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster), the Bronze Star (with two oak leaf clusters), the Meritorious Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Army Commendation Medal, Master Parachutist Badge, Special Forces Tab, Army Staff badge, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. 

Following his retirement from 1999 to 2007, Wilson became the President and Chief Operating Officer of Dimensions International, Inc., a firm that provides aviation-related products to analyze and process information coming from radar systems, air traffic control computers, and communication systems. Dimensions provided logistics around the world. As a result of Dimensions 
success it was acquired by Honeywell Corp. Wilson remained with Honeywell thru the fall of 2009. 

Since retirement, he has served with the following entities Morgan State Board of Regents, Washington First Bank Board of Directors, ROCKS Intl, Career Communications Group, Alpha Phi Alpha, and Sigma Pi Phi. He was also nominated by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to serve on the board of the Truman Library Institute. Wilson also received the Meritorious Service Award from the NAACP and the Lifetime Achievement Award from U.S. Black Engineer magazine. General Johnnie Wilson Middle School in Lorain, Ohio was named after General Wilson.

 

 

GEN Johnnie Wilson's bio can be downloaded by clicking here

Parent Members

D.L.J.
Honorable Deborah Lee James (Chair)
Former Secretary, US Air Force
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Craig Albright
Craig Albright
Senior Finance Executive Xerox Corp (Former), Board Member & Executive Advisor
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A.A
Alex Alonso, Ph.D.
Chief Knowledge Officer Society for Human Resource Management
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J.A.
Joseph Anderson
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Tag Holdings, LLC
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D.B.
David Beitel
Chief Technology Officer, Zillow Group
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S.D
Sally Donnelly
Founding Partner, Pallas Advisors
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C.E.
Cheryl Eliano
District 10 National Vice President, American Federation Of Government Employees
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C.G.
Christopher S. Gopal, Ph.D.
Executive, Consultant, Author & Educator, Global Supply Chain & Operations
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L.H.
Linnie M. Haynesworth
Co-Chair, Defense Business Board, Former Vice President, Northrop Grumman; & Independent Board Director
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E.H.
Erin Hill, J.D.
Deputy Chief Auditor, BNY Mellon
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S.LN.
Suzanne Leopoldi-Nichols
Former Chief Global Business Solutions Officer, WPP’s Global Procurement
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J.M.
Jennifer McClure
Founder & CEO, Unbridled Talent, LLC
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O.M.
Oscar Munoz
Retired Chairman, President & CEO United Airlines
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L.S.
General Larry Spencer, US Air Force (Ret)
President, Armed Forces Benefit Association
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D.W.
David Van Slyke, Ph.D.
Dean, The Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs Syracuse University
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J.V.
General Joseph L. Votel, US Army (Ret)
Former Commander, US Central Command and US Special Operations Command
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D.W.
Honorable David M. Walker
Former Comptroller General of the United States
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Robert Wolf
Robert Wolf
Founder, 32 Advisors
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S.Y
Safroadu "Saf" Yeboah-Amankwah
Senior VP & Chief Strategy Officer, Intel Corporation
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Subcommittee Members

A.B.
Anand Bahl, Chief Information Officer, Micron Technology, Inc.
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G.B
Greg Bowman, J.D., Chief Innovation Officer & Vice President of Corporate Development, Siemens Government Technologies, Inc.
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M.D.
Matthew Daniel, Principal of Talent Strategy, Guild Education
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M.K.
Marachel Knight, Senior Technology & Operations Executive AT&T (Former) and Board Director, Marvell Technology, Inc.
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Sarah Mineiro
Sarah Mineiro, Founder and CEO of Tanagra Enterprises
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E.R.
The Honorable Eric Rosenbach, Co-Director, Belfer Center for Science and Internal Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
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B.S.
Brig Gen Bernard Skoch, US Air Force (Ret), Chair of the Board, Air and Space Forces Association
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S.S.
Stan Soloway, President & CEO, Celero Strategies, LLC
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P.,Z.
Patricia J. Zarodkiewicz, President, PatZ Consulting, LLC
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