John Donnelly

BG Donnelly’s military career began in 1984 when he was directly commissioned as First Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps. He was assigned as an Immunologist to the Department of Pathology and Area Lab Services, as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee. In 1987, he was assigned as Field Medical Assistant and in 1988 as Commander of the 379th Medical Detachment (Blood Bank Service Headquarters – AJ) in Folsom, Pennsylvania. The 379th Medical Detachment was mobilized for Operation Desert Shield and deployed to Saudi Arabia in December 1990. BG Donnelly served as Commander of the 379th and as Army Component Blood Program Officer until the unit redeployed in April 1991. He continued to serve as Commander of the 379th after it redeployed until its inactivation in 1992. In 1992 he was named S-2/3 of the 338th Medical Group in Folsom, PA, a position he held until 1995. In 1995, BG Donnelly became the S-2 of the 424th Medical Battalion Logistics in Pedricktown, NJ. In 1997, he was named Executive Officer of the 338th Medical Group, a position he held until 1999. After moving from the Philadelphia area to the San Francisco Bay area, BG Donnelly became G-3 of the 2nd Medical Brigade in San Pablo, CA in 1999. In 2002 BG Donnelly became Chief of Staff of the 2nd Medical Brigade. The 2nd Medical Brigade was mobilized in support of OIF2 in December 2003. In January 2004, BG Donnelly deployed to the Iraqi Theater of Operations as Medical Brigade Chief of Staff. After redeploying from Iraq in 2005, BG Donnelly transitioned from the Chief of Staff position to the position of Commander, Western Medical Area Readiness Support Group (WE-MARSG) in October 2005. This newly organized headquarters provided command and control for all USAR AMEDD TDA units in seven Western states. In January 2007 BG Donnelly changed command of the WE-MARSG with COL Murty Savitala and remained in the unit while working in Europe for his civilian employer. In June 2008, BG Donnelly was selected as Deputy Commander, 807th Medical Deployable Support Command (MDSC), Seagoville, TX, and was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. In August 2011, BG Donnelly moved to the 3rd MDSC, Ft. Gillem, GA as Deputy Commander. He transferred to the Retired Reserve effective March 14, 2014.

BG Donnelly’s military education includes Army Medical Department Officer Basic Course (1984), Army Medical Department Officer Advanced Course (1986), US Army Command and General Staff College (1995), and US Army War College (2002). He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Ph.D. degree in Immunology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies from the US Army War College.

BG Donnelly’s military decorations include: the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal W/1 OLC, the Meritorious Service Medal W/1 OLC, the Army Commendation Medal W/2 OLC, and the Army Achievement Medal.

BG Donnelly is married to the former Betsy Burkhardt of Franklin, PA, and they have two children, Ann, 34 and James, 31. In civilian life he has worked in vaccine research and development for the multinational corporations Merck, Chiron and Novartis and for the international NGO, PATH. He is a member of the American Association of Immunologists and the American Association of Blood Banks. He currently works as an independent consultant in the area of research and development of vaccines and in addition leads Global Healing, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the improvement of access to health care in low resource countries.