Brig. Gen. Mark A. Maldonado is dual-hatted as the Commander, District of Columbia Air National Guard and Director, Joint Staff, Joint Force Headquarters, DCNG. In his role as the Commanding General of the Air Component Command for the DCNG, he is the principal advisor to the Commanding General of the DCNG and manages over 1,200 members of the District of Columbia Air National Guard while ensuring all DCANG units maintain the required readiness levels. Furthermore, he liaises with the Director, Air National Guard, on behalf of the Commanding General and The Adjutant General of the DCNG. In his role as the Director, Joint Staff, he is responsible for overseeing and managing the development, execution and evaluation of joint staff programs and policies pertaining to the command, control and operation of joint functions within the District of Columbia Army and District of Columbia Air National Guard.
General Maldonado was commissioned in 1991 after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy. Throughout his career, he has served in various operational and staff assignments, primarily as a KC-135 Aircraft Commander, Personnel Officer and Staff Judge Advocate. After graduating from Undergraduate Pilot Training in 1992, he served on active duty for nine years. Upon entering the ANG, he deployed and flew 48 combat sorties over Afghanistan. He has deployed to Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Oman and Portugal. Additionally, he represented the Department of Defense Institute for International Legal Studies as a Counterterrorism and Counternarcotic instructor in Lima, Peru, San Salvador, El Salvador and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
In his civilian capacity, General Maldonado served as a Federal Prosecutor for the U.S. Department of Justice for more than a decade where he prosecuted large scale international cases working in the Counterterrorism and Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Sections. He was selected as one of six Department of Justice Criminal Division Honors Program attorneys out of nearly twenty seven hundred applicants in 2003. General Maldonado was the first ANG Judge Advocate General to receive the top graduate award at the Judge Advocate General School and has served there as an adjunct instructor. He was named the U.S. Department of Justice Counterterrorism Section Attorney of the year for 2008.
EDUCATION
1991 Bachelor of Science, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.
1997 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
2004 Juris Doctor (Awarded January 2004), Rutgers Law School, Camden, N.J.
2012 Air War College, by correspondence
ASSIGNMENTS
1. August 1991 - August 1992, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Vance Air Force Base, Okla.
2. August 1992 - December 1994, Chief, Personnel Utilization and Training, McGuire AFB, N.J.
3. December 1994 - September 2000, Aircraft Commander, KC-135R/T, Grand Forks AFB, N.D.
4. February 2001 - September 2006, Aircraft Commander, KC-135E and Officer in Charge of Command Post, McGuire AFB, N.J.
5. September 2006 - September 2007, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, 113th Wing, District of Columbia Air National Guard, Andrews AFB, Maryland.
6. September 2007 - September 2009, Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, Joint Force Headquarters, District of Columbia Air National Guard, Washington, D.C.
7. September 2009 - September 2011, Joint Force Headquarters Staff Judge Advocate-Air, Joint Force Headquarters, District of Columbia Air National Guard, Washington, D.C.
8. September 2011 - September 2015, State Judge Advocate-Air, Joint Force Headquarters, District of Columbia Air National Guard, Washington, D.C.
9. April 2017 - Present, Commander for the District of Columbia Air National Guard, Washington, D.C.
10. August 2019 – Present, Director of Joint Staff, District of Columbia National Guard, Washington, D.C.
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Senior Pilot
Flight hours: 2,503
Aircraft flown: KC-135E/R/T, C-141B
MAJOR AWARDS & DECORATIONS
Legion of Merit
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
Army Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 29, 1991
First Lieutenant May 29, 1993
Captain May 29, 1995
Major Oct. 1, 2002
Lieutenant Colonel Feb. 22, 2008
Colonel, May 23, 2013
Brigadier General June 4, 2019
(Current as of September 2019)