Charles “Chuck” Anderson serves on the Board of Trustees for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. (PHW), bringing a lifetime of leadership and service and a continuing commitment to supporting Veterans, service members, and their families.
Chuck retired from the U.S. Army in 2011 as a Major General following 32 years of active-duty service. An Air Defense Artillery officer, he served in six Army divisions and became the first Air Defense Artillery officer to command an Army division. His career took him from operational assignments in the Middle East to senior responsibilities for training, force development, modernization, and the readiness and sustainment of U.S. forces around the world.
Following retirement from the Army, Chuck began a second career leading large and complex businesses supporting national security and other critical government missions. As President of PAE, he led more than 20,000 employees working across 72 countries and a $2.2 billion portfolio. His subsequent executive, advisory, and board roles have continued to draw on the principles that have defined his leadership throughout his career: building strong teams, navigating change, solving difficult problems, and creating organizations in which people can succeed.
Service to the military community has remained an important part of Chuck’s life. He serves on the board of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center and throughout both careers he has contributed to initiatives focused on resilience and military transition, including work associated with the Army’s Master Resilience Training program. He was also recently selected to serve on a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resiliency Advisory Board supporting Veterans, First Responders, and Community members. Additionally, Chuck participates at the U.S Army General Officer Transition Course where he is engage directly with senior military leaders and their families as they prepare for transition from military service.
Chuck was drawn to Project Healing Waters by the natural intersection of two things he cares deeply about: Veterans and fly fishing. He believes the nation has an enduring responsibility to care for those who have served and sees in PHW a powerful combination of restorative healing, relationships, and time on the water. An enthusiastic fly angler himself, Chuck has recently refreshed his skills through classes near his home in Colorado Springs and made fly fishing what he describes as a “real hobby.”
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Chuck finds particular joy in seeing family, friends, colleagues, and those he has led to succeed and receive recognition. “I’m intrinsically rewarded when I see good things happen to good people,” he says. His leadership philosophy is similarly straightforward: culture and good leadership matter, the right people need to be moving together in the right direction, and an organization’s “audio” should match its “video”- what it says should be reflected in what it actually does.
Chuck is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and holds graduate degrees in business administration, systems management, physical education, and strategic studies.
As a Trustee, Chuck brings strategic perspective, seasoned judgment, and decades of experience building and leading organizations through challenge and change. Just as importantly, he brings an enduring commitment to service, strong organizational culture, and the people and relationships at the heart of the Project Healing Waters mission.