The Maine Senate on Thursday confirmed retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Diane L. Dunn as the first woman to lead the Maine National Guard and to serve as adjutant general and commissioner of the Maine Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management.

The vote was 33-1 with Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, the lone dissenting vote.

“I’m so honored to be given the support of the Senate this morning and to have the opportunity to lead the men and women of the Maine military and Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management,” Dunn said after the vote. “I’m going to do my absolute best to serve the state of Maine.”

Dunn, 57, replaces Maj. Gen. Douglas Farnham, who is retiring after nearly 40 years of military service and has served as leader of the Maine National Guard, adjutant general and commissioner of the department since 2015.

Senators from both sides of the aisle praised Dunn for her leadership, integrity and commitment to her work.

Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Norridgewock, said Dunn has excelled throughout her career and also serves as a mentor for young women.

“I could go on all day about Diane’s qualifications,” Farrin said. “Look at her resume and her bio. In the military, we like to say that when you leave a job, you leave it better than you found it. I think we can all agree Gen. Farnham has done a phenomenal job for this state. I have full confidence Diane is going to do the same thing.”

Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, said he met Dunn previously when she applied for a job as executive director of the Legislature. “Impressive is not even the word I would use,” Jackson said. “It’s more than that … She’s someone I could have seen easily taking control of the Legislature as far as the job of executive director and doing unbelievable things.

“The only reason she isn’t doing the executive director’s job today, as opposed to being nominated for the general, is because we had someone that I had known for 15 or more years, which is Suzanne Gresser, and who I thought was equally outstanding,” Jackson said.

“She just has a way that shows she knows what she’s doing, and she’s not afraid to make hard decisions,” he said of Dunn.

Brakey, the lone dissenting vote, said Dunn is a “highly distinguished and highly qualified nominee” but he was opposed because of a statement she made during her confirmation hearing before the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee indicating she doesn’t support legislation that would prohibit the overseas deployment of the state’s National Guard units without a congressional declaration of war.

Dunn was asked during her confirmation hearing if she agrees with Farnham and opposes what’s known as the ‘defend the guard’ legislation.

“I do agree that the defend the guard legislation does conflict with the federal law,” Dunn told the committee during its hearing Monday. “And because the National Guard has a responsibility to both federal and state, that would be my position.”

Brakey said during the Senate debate Thursday that the legislation would protect Maine’s authority to not deploy the guard without a formal war declaration.

“I cannot in good conscience vote to confirm a leader of the National Guard who would deny the authority of this body, this Legislature and this state, to refuse unconstitutional orders from Washington to send our sons and daughters off to undeclared foreign wars,” Brakey said.

The committee voted 8-3 to confirm Dunn.

Gov. Janet Mills, who nominated Dunn to the post, praised the Senate’s overwhelming confirmation Thursday.

“She is uniquely and highly qualified to serve as Adjutant General and Commissioner, is deeply respected by the men and women of the department who have served with her, and is the right person to take on these immense responsibilities,” Mills said in a statement. “I look forward to officially swearing her into the job in the coming weeks.”

The governor’s office said an early February swearing-in is being planned and more details will be announced before the event.

Dunn is a former assistant adjutant general and chief of staff of the Maine Army National Guard with 33 years of military service. In 2014, she became the first woman to command a brigade in the Maine Army National Guard.

Upon her promotion to brigadier general in 2020, she became the first female general officer in the 200-year history of the Maine Army National Guard.

Dunn has served as company commander of the Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 286th Supply Services Battalion in Bangor, battalion commander of the 240th Regional Training Institute while it was in Augusta, battalion commander of the 286th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion in both Bangor and Afghanistan and brigade commander of the 120th Regional Support Group in Bangor.

Her career has also included national assignments as the joint regional branch chief of U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and as a deputy commanding general for U.S. Army North at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

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