Colonel Vernon Joseph MacDonald was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduating from Officer Candidate School on 20 June 1969. His first duty assignment was as a Platoon Leader, Charlie Company 2nd Battalion 504th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. | His subsequent duty assignments include: Battalion S-2, 2nd Battalion 504th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Platoon Leader, Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion 7th Infantry, 1st Air Cavalry Division, Vietnam; Army Inspection Team Chief, 1st Army, Fort Devens, Massachusetts; Platoon Leader, Bravo Company 1st Battalion, 181st Infantry, 26th Cavalry, 26th Yankee Division, Milford, Massachusetts; Squadron S-2, HHT, 1st Battalion 26th Cavalry, 26th Yankee Division, Reading, Massachusetts; Troop Commander, Bravo Company 1st Battalion 26th Calvary, 26th Yankee Division, Methuen, Massachusetts; Executive Officer, HHC 1st Battalion 101st Infantry, 26th Yankee Division, Dorchester, Massachusetts; Deputy G-3, HHC 26th Infantry Division, Camp Edwards, Massachusetts; Commander, 1st Battalion 101st Infantry, 26th Yankee Division, Dorchester, Massachusetts; Commander, 1st Battalion 182nd Infantry Mechanized, 42nd Division, Dorchester, Massachusetts; Division Chief (logistics), STARC Headquarters, Milford, Massachusetts.