TWO ODU ALUMNI TAPPED FOR PROMOTION TO GENERAL RANKS IN ARMY

Two Old Dominion University alumni, Kathleen M. Gainey and Mark W. Perrin, were selected recently for promotion to the ranks of lieutenant general and brigadier general, respectively, in the U.S. Army. The nominations, by President Bush, were announced by the Department of Defense. Both Gainey and Perrin are products of Old Dominion's Army ROTC program, where they earned second lieutenant commissions upon graduation.

With her promotion from two-star to three-star general, Maj. Gen. Gainey will be assigned as director for logistics, J-4, for the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. She now serves as the commanding general, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, at Scott Air Force Base, Ill. In her current position, she is responsible for managing all global surface deployment and distribution services to support all branches of the military's objectives. Gainey earned her ODU bachelor's degree in special education in 1978.

Perrin received his first star during a promotion ceremony at the Pentagon on Jan. 24 and was assigned as assistant chief of staff for intelligence, J-2, U.S. Forces Korea, and Deputy U-2, United Nations Command in Seoul. In his new assignment, he will oversee the Army's intelligence operations and support the efforts of the U.N. Command of all forces serving in South Korea. Perrin earned his ODU bachelor's degree in electrical engineering technology in 1980.

"Two general officer promotions of ODU Army ROTC alumni is truly a hallmark occasion," remarked Dick Whalen, ODU director of military activities. "They join many other senior military officials who have graduated from the university in recent decades and now occupy some of the most responsible assignments in the Armed Forces. We could not be more proud - and honored."