Alicia Tate-Nadeau

Brigadier General Alicia Tate-Nadeau is the first woman to be promoted to general in the Illinois Army National Guard.

Education
Tate-Nadeau studied business at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, and was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. In 1984, she joined the Reserve Officer's Training Corps after the Dean of Woman at her school suggested it would help raise her GPA. Later, Tate-Nadeau would transfer to the University of Central Oklahoma and graduate with a degree in health. In 1986, through the UCO's ROTC program, she was commissioned to second lieutenant. Later in life, Tate-Nadeau was working on her master's degree in hospital administration.

Career
Brigadier General Tate-Nadeau has been a member of the National Guard for 30 years. She has held numerous leadership positions. From 1989 to 1991, she was company commander for Headquarters Detachment, 44th Chemical Battalion in Sycamore, Illinois, while on a tour of duty under Colonel Norman A. Schenbrenner. From 2002 to 2003, she was the officer in charge at the Regional Training Institute in Springfield, Illinois. Tate-Nadeau's many other positions include, Chief of the Joint Staff; Director of Plans, Operations, and Training; 404th Chemical Brigade Deputy Commander; and 5th Civil Support Team Commander.

In 1997, Tate-Nadeau "abandoned" the once-a-week duty of a conventional reservist for the full-time Active Guard reserve.

Tate-Nadeau was assigned to be the Illinois Army National Guard's Director of Plans, Operations and Training in 2003, which she calls, "The hardest job I've had."

From 2005 to 2006, she served a tour in Iraq as the Chief of Operations, Plans, and Public Information at Camp Lincoln. Tate-Nadeau completed a three-year-tour in Ramla, Israel as liaison officer to the Israeli Home Front Command.

In her recent position as the Illinois Army National Guard Assistant Adjutant General, Tate-Nadeau was responsible for overseeing Illinois National Guard Homeland Security response and programs. She was put in charge of domestic operations.

Most recently, Tate-Nadeau has returned to a civilian job at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Chicago. She is responsible for heading a 12 person-rapid response team assigned to cover FEMA's Region V. This area includes Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Their team needs to be "the first ones on the ground, representing the federal government in case of an emergency."

As Brigadier General, she will do her guard work when needed, and will serve as a "traditional guardsman."