BG David L. McGinnis, USA (Ret)

Brigadier General David L. McGinnis, USA (Ret), is a retired veteran combat infantryman, with distinguished careers in and out of uniform defending the United States. BG McGinnis remains engaged as a thought leader on National Strategy, Defense and Mental Health Policy. He chairs a national level working group focused on the Behavioral Health of our military, veterans and their families and is an active member in Mission Readiness, an organization of retired military leaders calling for smart investments in America’s Children.

McGinnis last served the Nation as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs in the Department of Defense, from April 2009 to September 2012 serving as acting Assistant Secretary for fourteen months during that period.   He was a force behind President Obama’s efforts on the well-being of military families and the President’s recent Executive Order on Behavioral Health. Prior to that appointment he served as Decision Support Manager to Virginia’s Commissioner of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, was a major player in establishing the Commonwealth’s Wounded Warrior initiative and served as the State representative on the Bush Administration’s Federal Partners’ Working Group for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.

Over the past 16 years, McGinnis has provided a steady stream of independent analysis on important issues, to include regular commentary in the national news media and intellectual products for members of the Congress.  He was asked to perform National Security roles in both the Kerry and Obama Presidential Campaigns.  He has long been viewed as an accomplished analyst and valued for his candor as Senior Fellow of the National Guard Association of the United States, Senior Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Adjunct Fellow with the bipartisan American Security Project.

McGinnis retired from our military in 1995 following 29 years in the Army uniform.  A Veteran of two ground combat assignments in Vietnam, with considerable Infantry, Special Operations and Joint experience (7 campaign stars), his later active duty career focused on Force Management and Force Integration, including the organization of two new Army Divisions and the fielding of the Deployable Medical System. He also led the post-Cold War Re-Organization of the Army National Guard from 1990 to 1993 before becoming the Principal Director for Strategic Plans and Analysis in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

McGinnis is a member of the Legion de Lafayette of the National Guard Education Foundation and a graduate of the US Army War College.