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WASHINGTON (Feb. 1, 2024) — More than 45,000 current and former National Guard officers across the country have a new voice in the nation’s capital.
Retired Massachusetts Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn has succeeded retired Mississippi Army National Guard Brig. Gen. J. Roy Robinson as president of the National Guard Association of the United States.
The post is the association’s chief executive officer, with responsibility for the advocacy group’s daily operations and 28-member staff in Washington, D.C.
The NGAUS president also oversees the National Guard Educational Foundation — which operates the National Guard Memorial Museum — and the NGAUS Insurance Trust.
The association’s board of directors selected McGinn at its annual fall meeting Nov. 18.
"Being able to continue to serve the men and women of our National Guard is a true honor," McGinn said. "I’m excited, I’m humbled, and I am looking forward to carrying on the work that has been so critical over 146 years to making the National Guard the force that it is today."
He said his legislative priority is securing health care for every Guardsman. Currently, nearly one in five National Guardsmen have no health insurance. Nevertheless, they must be medically ready for mobilization at any time.
Zero-cost TRICARE medical coverage has been a NGAUS legislative priority for three years. It would provide Guardsmen and Reservists with year-round health care with no out-of-pocket expenses.
The Healthcare for Our Troops Act (H.R. 4221) in the House would do just that, but some lawmakers balk at adding a recurring cost to defense appropriations.
"Zero-cost TRICARE would pay for itself in higher medical readiness and retention and the elimination of the millions of dollars the Guard pays every year for troop physicals from medical contractors," McGinn said.
"I know this will be a challenge," he added. "It may take a while to convince some in Congress of the value of zero-cost TRICARE, but so did winning the support needed to put the Guard on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And we’re up for it."
McGinn arrives familiar with the workings of the association through his 15 years as a member of the NGAUS board.
He will also rely on his four decades of military service, most of it as a traditional, part-time soldier.
McGinn deployed to Iraq in 2004 as part of the 42nd Infantry Division. Later, McGinn was the division’s assistant division commander for support.
He also served as Massachusetts assistant adjutant general-Army and deputy commanding general-Army National Guard at the U.S. Army Cyber Center of Excellence at what is now Fort Eisenhower, Georgia.
Additionally, McGinn has 34 years of civilian law-enforcement experience, retiring from the Massachusetts State Police in 2018 as a major after 30 years.
Most recently, McGinn commanded the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport Station in Arlington, Virginia, as a major in the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police Department.
He grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts, a city south of Boston that has produced 18 general officers.
This list includes retired Army Gen. James C. McConville, the chief of staff of the Army from 2019 to 2023; retired Marine Corps Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2015 to 2019; and the late Army Gen. Gordon S. Sullivan, the Army chief of staff from 1991 to 1995.
McConville and Dunford recommended McGinn for association president in letters to the NGAUS board.
In his spare time, McGinn, 60, still plays ice hockey, a game he started playing at age five.
McGinn and his wife, Kerry, currently live in Ashburn, Virginia. The couple have a daughter, Kaylee, and a son, Colin.
Reporters, Editors & Producers: Retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn is available for interviews or to appear as a subject matter expert on issues related to the National Guard. Contact John Goheen at 202-408-5882 to schedule an interview or appearance.
NGAUS: The association was created in 1878 to provide united Guard representation in Washington. In their first productive meeting after Reconstruction, militia officers from the North and South formed the association with the goal of obtaining better equipment and training by petitioning Congress for more resources. Today, 146 years later with more than 45,000 members nationwide, NGAUS has the same mission.
