Maj. Gen. Daniel M. Krumrei, Illinois National Guard Adjutant General swears in newly promoted Brig. Gen. Alicia Tate-Nadeau on Saturday Mar. 7 at the Illinois Military Academy in Springfield. Photo by Spc. Jason Dorsey, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs

The Illinois National Guard on March 7 promoted Alicia Tate-Nadeau, its first female Brigadier General.

“Being a leader transcends gender and everything else,” she said. “I never wanted to be the best female officer. I wanted to be the best officer.”

Maj. Gen. Daniel Krumrei, Illinois National Guard Adjutant General, promoted Tate-Nadeau of Chicago and formerly of Delavan, Illinois. She was joined by her family, friends and approximately 200 Illinois National Guard Soldiers and Airmen during the ceremony at Camp Lincoln’s Illinois Military Academy in Springfield, Illinois. Tate-Nadeau’s children, Lindsey and Gavin, and retired Maj. Gen. Randal Thomas, former Illinois National Guard Adjutant General, joined Krumrei to pin on her new rank.

Tate-Nadeau said her leadership style is rooted in the standard she learned from retired Col. Norman Aschenbrenner, her battalion commander while she was company commander for Headquarters, Headquarters Detachment,  44th Chemical Battalion in Sycamore, Illinois, from 1989 to 1991.

“He taught me there was only one standard, for the men and women who serve. Make a decision that is good for your Soldier or you’re wrong and he was going to hold you, as an officer, accountable for that,” she said.

Maj. Eric Davis of Mt. Pulaski, Illinois, with 2nd Battalion, 122nd Field Artillery Regiment in Chicago, worked with Tate-Nadeau from 2008 to 2009 when she was the Illinois Army National Guard’s Director of Plans, Operations and Training.

He admitted she often pushed him to his limits, but said he never felt she set him up for failure. He also said the last thing he ever wanted to do was disappoint her.

Throughout her career, Tate-Nadeau held multiple positions, including various command and director-level positions such as Chief of the Joint Staff; Director of Plans, Operations and Training; 404th Chemical Brigade Deputy Commander; 44th Chemical Battalion Commander and 5th Civil Support Team Commander. She also deployed to Iraq with Multi-National Division (Central South) as the Chief of Operations, Plans and Public Information.

In her current assignment as the Illinois Army National Guard Assistant Adjutant General, the Adjutant General placed her in charge of domestic operations, overseeing Illinois National Guard homeland security response and programs such as the State Partnership Program with Poland. Prior to this position, she served a three-year tour as the National Guard Bureau Liaison Officer to the Israeli Home Front Command, in Ramla, Israel. In December 2014, Tate-Nadeau retired from the AGR program and transitioned back to a traditional Guardsman when she accepted a civilian position as the Region V Federal Emergency Management Agency Incident Management Assistance Team Leader in Chicago.

Throughout her career, Tate-Nadeau said it was never about being the best and brightest, but rather surrounding herself with the best and brightest. She also said it was never about ultimately wearing a star on her chest. It was about being her true self for her Soldiers.

“There is no cookie cutter way to leadership,” she said. “You can only be who you are in your heart, because Soldiers know that.”