Maj. Gen. Anthony Potts, who most recently was the program executive officer for Command, Control and Communication-Tactical at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, died July 25 in a plane crash. He was 59.

Potts was the only person in a single-engine plane when it crashed in a field in Havre de Grace, Maryland, according to multiple news reports and local first responders. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

At Program Executive Office C3T since June 2022, Potts led a workforce of more than 1,600 people who acquire, field and support the Army’s communications networks, radios, satellite systems and other related equipment. He completed his tenure there a year later, in June. Before that, Potts led PEO Soldier in its mission to rapidly deliver and cutting-edge soldier capabilities.

Potts graduated from Murray State University, Kentucky, in 1986, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in Army aviation, flying AH-64 Apache helicopters. He served a combat tour as an aviator in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and he made numerous deployments to the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan as an acquisition officer.

Potts, a member of the Association of the U.S. Army who was preparing to retire from the Army, completed “over 36 years of distinguished service,” Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ruth Castro said in a statement. “The entire U.S. Army is grateful for his service, and we extend our deepest and most sincere condolences to the entire Potts family.”