Army general who led service’s network modernization dies in plane crash

UPDATED 7/28/23 at 3:50pm ET to include an Army statement.

WASHINGTON — An Army leader who recently left his post directing the service’s network modernization efforts has died in a plane crash, according to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office and the Army.

Maj. Gen. Anthony Potts, who recently led the Army’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications (Tactical) (PEO C3T), died on Tuesday in a single-engine plane crash in Havre De Grace, Md. Potts, a longtime aviator, was reportedly the only person onboard the Piper PA-28 aircraft.

“It is with deep regret that we inform you of the death of Maj. Gen. Anthony W. Potts who passed away on July 25, 2023,” Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ruth Castro said in a statement. “Maj. Gen. Potts completed over 36 years of distinguished service, most recently serving as [PEO C3T], Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The entire U.S. Army is grateful for his service, and we extend our deepest and most sincere condolences to the entire Potts family.”

Potts took over PEO C3T in June last year, left the post this June and was reportedly close to retirement. As the leader of PEO C3T, Potts was charged with modernizing the service’s network and fielding advanced technologies and communications gear to soldiers. 

Under his leadership, “PEO C3T has delivered more than 400 Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard formations with modernized network and mission command application technology, including deliveries to seven infantry brigade combat teams and one Stryker regiment squadron, and the for the first time to division headquarters and enabling formations,” the service said in a June press release when Potts left that job.

The service credited Potts with “postur[ing] the Army to deliver a data-centric optimized network design for a division fighting formation that will support the Army of 2030.”

Prior to PEO C3T, Potts served as the program executive officer-soldier, where he was responsible for the development of body armor and sensors, and was the service’s deputy director for acquisition and system management.

In a 2019 video, Potts described the importance of his work in PEO Soldier: “[This is] about America’s sons and daughters. [This is] about the greatest treasure that our country has to… go out in defense of our freedom,” he said. “Personally it is our job to equip those soldiers with the very best equipment we could possibly give them, to overmatch any enemy that they would ever face.”

Potts served in operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, according to the Army.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.