This is part 1, of a two-part interview, with Brigadier General Mark Maldonado, the current Commander for the District of Columbia Air National Guard, who also holds the remarkable achievement of attaining 3 Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs) through his career as a pilot, personnelist, and a judge advocate – a true “triple threat” one could say! And he’s here today to talk about his career path – in that there is not necessarily a “normal” career path – from his humble beginnings in Puerto Rico and the Bronx, NY where he first learned to speak English, to his prominent role as a Commanding General.

Brigadier General Maldonado pinned onto the rank of Brigadier General in June of 2019 and has had a truly remarkable – and unique – career. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1991 and commissioned as a Second Lieutenant pilot in May of that year. He attended undergraduate pilot training at Vance AFB, Oklahoma. From there, he transitioned into a personnelist, earning his second AFSC, where he acted as the Chief of Personnel Utilization and Training, at McGuire AFB, NJ. Brigadier General Maldonado then moved back into his pilot career path as a KC-135 aircraft commander at both Grand Forks AFB, ND, and then the New Jersey ANG from 1994-2006. During his transition to the New Jersey ANG he entered law school and graduated with a JD from Rutgers Law School in 2004. In 2006, he transitioned into his third AFSC as a Deputy Judge Advocate with the 113th Wing, District of Columbia Air National Guard. He subsequently became the State Staff Judge Advocate for Joint Force Headquarters, DC National Guard. In his civilian capacity, he worked as a federal prosecutor for the Department of Justice for more than a decade where he prosecuted large-scale international cases working in the Counterterrorism, Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Sections.

Brigadier General Maldonado has numerous deployments under his belt including flying 48 combat sorties over Afghanistan in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Other deployments include Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Spain, Oman and Portugal. He also represented the Department of Defense’s Institute for International Legal Studies as a Rule of Law, Counterterrorism, and Counter-narcotics expert instructor in Peru, El Salvador, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Currently, Brigadier General Maldonado acts as the Commanding General, Air Component Command, District of Columbia National Guard. He is the principal advisor to the Commanding General of the DC National Guard and manages over 1,200 Airmen, civilians and contractors, while ensuring all his units maintain the required readiness for world-wide deployment.