FOR RELEASE: Wednesday, August 19, 2020
CONTACT: Colorado National Guard Public Affairs office, 720-250-1053 or email ng.co.coarng.list.militarysupport@mail.mil
CENTENNIAL, Colo. – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis will welcome the 44th adjutant general of Colorado U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Laura Clellan at a media availability following the assumption of command ceremony at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado, Aug. 22, 2020.
Clellan also serves as a member of the governor’s Cabinet and as executive director for the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
“I am absolutely thrilled to appoint Brigadier General Laura Clellan as the 44th Adjutant General of Colorado,” Polis said. “Her bold leadership and extensive experience – both military and civilian – will make a difference as we work together to create solutions to the challenges facing our state and nation.”
“I am honored to serve as TAG during these unprecedented times when our state and nation needs us most,” Clellan said. “I will continue to build on the DMVA’s accomplishments, with an emphasis on ensuring our organization’s culture is rooted in the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion and is ‘Always Ready, Always There’ for our communities and partners in Colorado and around the globe,” Clellan said.
Clellan succeeds U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Mike Loh, who became director of the U.S. Air National Guard.
Clellan is the first woman to lead the Colorado National Guard.
She commissioned in 1989 through the Reserve Officers Training Corps program at Rio Grande College in Ohio. After commissioning, she served in various assignments in the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve before transferring to the Colorado Army National Guard in 1998.
She is a decorated commander with two combat deployments, three operational deployments and 30 years of military service.
Over 22 years, she served in positions of increasing responsibility within the COARNG, to include the Assistant Adjutant General, Army.
Clellan also previously worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of Veterans Affairs.
The DMVA consists of the Colorado National Guard, Division of Veterans Affairs, and Colorado Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, totaling more than 6,700 Soldiers, Airmen, state employees, and volunteers. The DMVA supports the National Guard to defend the homeland and mobilize for overseas contingency operations, coordinates National Guard disaster response in Colorado and the region, supports the missions of the Civil Air Patrol, and assists our veterans and their families to receive the state and federal benefits that they deserve. The Colorado National Guard also has state partnerships with Slovenia and Jordan.