Then-U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Diane Dunn talks to a reporter in her office at the Maine National Guard headquarters Camp Chamberlain, in Augusta, March 31, 2025. Dunn was promoted on Tuesday to the rank of major general. Credit: Sawyer Loftus / BDN

Brig. Gen. Diane Dunn has been promoted to major general becoming the first woman to hold that rank in the Maine National Guard.

Dunn is the adjutant general for the Maine Army National Guard and Maine Air National Guard, as well as the commissioner for the Maine Department of Defense, Veterans, and Emergency Management.

She was promoted in a ceremony on Tuesday in Augusta.

Major General Frank Roy administers the Oath of Office with Major General Diane Dunn before a crowded auditorium at Camp Chamberlain, Augusta, Tuesday. Maj. Gen. Dunn is the 41st Maine Adjutant General and Commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Andrew Sinclair, Maine National Guard

Dunn started her military career in 1988 as a 2nd lieutenant serving as a freight movement officer with the 3620th transportation detachment in Augusta and has held many positions since, including company commander for Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 286th Supply Services Battalion; battalion commander of the 240th Regional Training Institute, battalion commander of the 286th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion in Bangor and during a deployment to Afghanistan, brigade commander of the 120th Regional Support Group, and Maine Army National Guard chief of staff. 

Major General Diane Dunn addresses a crowded auditorium during her promotion ceremony at Camp Chamberlain, Augusta, Maine, Feb. 17. Maj. Gen. Dunn is the 41st Maine Adjutant General and Commissioner of the Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. Andrew Sinclair, Maine National Guard

In 2020, she became the first female brigadier general in Maine, and in 2024 she became the 41st adjutant general for the Maine National Guard and first woman to hold the position.

Ethan Andrews is the night editor. He was formerly the managing editor at The Free Press and worked as a reporter for The Republican Journal and Pen Bay Pilot.

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