Brigadier general from Elgin joins 88th Readiness Division

Upon pinning on her new star on July 20 in Chicago, Brigadier General Patricia R. Wallace is joining the 88th Readiness Division in Fort McCoy, Wis., as its new Deputy Commanding General.

Major General Jody J. Daniels, commanding general of the 88th Readiness Division, hosted the promotion ceremony at the Pritzker Military Museum and Library.

Daniels spoke highly of Wallace's abilities and welcomed her to the 88th. Daniels noted in her remarks that promotion to Brigadier General is a rare event - only a very small percentage of the officers who join the Army ever reach the rank of General Officer.

"Trish Wallace is clearly worthy of joining this small group of loyal patriots," Daniels said.

In her new role, Wallace will be responsible for the Mobilization Force Generation Installation mission at Fort McCoy. In that capacity, she will synchronize the staff and organizations that process, train, evaluate, certify and deploy Army Reserve soldiers.

Wallace received her commission through Indiana University ROTC. She has a master's in public affairs from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She most recently served as the Brigade Commander of U.S. Army Reserve Pacific Command, Hawaii. She has held command and staff positions at increasing levels of responsibility in a variety of organizations. She deployed to Kuwait as part of the Iraq Assistance Group, and is a graduate of the Army War College and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School. Her highest award is the Legion of Merit.

The Indianapolis native's current civilian occupation - that of providing performance driven consulting - has her in contact with a variety of high-level customers including the Department of Labor. She is currently providing program management services to the advertising agency that is helping the Army develop and execute a new marketing strategy - for all the Army's components, Active service, Army Reserve, and National Guard. This has her working on strategy across a broad spectrum of activities: media planning, strategic research, local marketing, events, interactive marketing, promotions marketing, public relations, multi-culture advertising and online media.

Family attending the ceremony included her husband, Johnathan N. Powell, sons Moses and Johnathan, her mother, stepfather and siblings. She was also joined by dozens of colleagues and friends.

Wallace and her family currently live in Elgin, Ill.