Tracey Poirier NU ’96 makes history by becoming the Vermont Army National Guard’s first female Brigadier General
U.S. Army Col. Tracey Poirier promotes to the rank of Brig. Gen. during a ceremony at Camp Johnson, Colchester, Vermont, July 26, 2023. Poirier is the first female promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the history of the Vermont Army National Guard. (Photos Courtesy of the Vermont Army National Guard)

In a ceremony held at Camp Johnson in Colchester, VT on July 26, 2023, Norwich University alumna Tracey Poirier made history when she was officially promoted as the Vermont Army National Guard’s (VANG) first female brigadier general.
BG Poirier serves the VANG as its director of joint staff where she leads 25 Army and air staff as well as serves as an advisor to the adjutant general.
Serving her country proudly for the past 26 years, BG Poirier enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1991. A member of the Norwich University class of 1996 and the university’s first Rhodes Scholar, BG Poirier went on to earn two master’s degrees from Oxford University before joining the U.S. Marines, serving active duty for eight years before returning to the VANG. During her tenure with the VANG, BG Poirier has been deployed twice to Iraq.
In 2021, the Vermont Army National Guard became the first state in the country to meet the requirement to allow women to serve in every job in the military, including combat arms positions.
* * *
About Norwich University
Norwich University is a diversified academic institution that educates traditional-age students and adults in a Corps of Cadets and as civilians. Norwich offers a broad selection of traditional and distance-learning programs culminating in baccalaureate and graduate degrees. Norwich University was founded in 1819 by Captain Alden Partridge of the U.S. Army and is the oldest private military college in the United States of America. Norwich is one of our nation's six senior military colleges and the birthplace of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). www.norwich.edu
Read More

U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Chief Petty Officer, volleyball champion, EMT trainee: One teen’s remarkable résumé
Incoming student Emily Bolanos will enter Norwich University this fall, where she will join the Navy ROTC Nursing program, working to become a member of the Naval Nurse Corps.

Cadet Student-Athletes Earn High Marks in the Classroom During Spring 2025 Semester
Norwich University student-athletes continued to excel academically during the Spring 2025 semester. The 22 varsity programs combined for a department GPA of 3.25, with 11 teams posting GPAs above the...

From the Frontlines to The Hill: TIME’s Simon Shuster to Receive Colby Award at Norwich University’s 2025 Military Writers’ Symposium
Shuster will accept the 2025 William E. Colby Award at Norwich University’s Military Writers’ Symposium held October 27-28.