Major General Joseph Anderson is the former Deputy Director of the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum. Joe served 33 years in the United States Marine Corps. He flew 219 combat missions in Vietnam and commanded every echelon of Marine Aviation. He served as Director of Operations, Command, Control, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) and Vice Commander of the Naval Air Systems Command. He completed his career as a Major General in command of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing in Japan. After his service, Anderson was Vice President for business development at Advanced Navigation and Positioning Corp. in Hood River, OR and then Corporate Vice President of the Dalcorp Advisory Group in Ashburn, Va.

Joe has served on the Navy Federal Credit Union, Peduzzi Associates Ltd. boards, the Congaree Group, OperationVetsHaven, Digital Reasoning Systems and Draken International. He has served for three terms as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, VA. He founded NASM on the Road, an outreach utilizing the artifacts of the National Air and Space Museum to generate quality opportunities for recuperating service personnel and Veterans.

Joe has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for abused and neglected children in Fairfax County, VA. He was a member of the Board of Advisors for the National Museum of the United States Air Force and is a member of the Marine Corps Aviation Association and the Early and Pioneer Naval Aviation Association (Golden Eagles). He is also a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and has served on the Air Force Science Advisory Board. After retirement, he joined a fellow Marine aviator, flying the world’s only civilian-owned Harrier as an airshow pilot with an Acrobatic Competency Rating. Joe retired from the air show circuit in 2017, having flown the Harrier for 43 years.

Joe earned a B.S. in engineering from the US Naval Academy and an M.S. in Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California. His military education included U.S. Air Force Flight School, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and the National War College.