Brigadier General LESLIE A. MAHER

Brig. Gen. Leslie A. Maher is Commander, Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. As the Air Force’s largest officer accession source, Brig. Gen. Maher leads more than 3,300 Airmen, training 120,000 cadets at 2,085 global locations. The command includes 15,000 cadets at 1,200 colleges and universities nationwide for Air Force ROTC, 3,500 cadets in Air Force Officer Training School at Maxwell AFB, and more than 101,000 cadets in 885 high schools globally supporting Air Force Junior ROTC. The Holm Center produces more than 85% of the Air Force’s front line officers, chaplains, judge advocates and medical officers.

Brig. Gen. Maher, a native of Gregory, South Dakota, enlisted in the Air Force in 1987. After her enlistment ended, she attended Wichita State University and joined the 184th Fighter Wing, Kansas Air National Guard. Upon completion of her degree, Brig. Gen. Maher was commissioned through Officer Training School at Maxwell AFB, and reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, and Randolph AFB, Texas, for Joint Undergraduate Navigator Training. She earned her wings in 1997 and has participated in numerous operations including operations Southern Watch, Allied Force, Noble Eagle, Desert Fox, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and the relief efforts in support of Joint Task Force-Matthew. She has served in several capacities, including KC-135 Weapons Officer, Foreign Area Officer and the JTF-Port Opening Commander for JTF-Matthew, where she led recovery efforts for the island of Haiti after a devastating hurricane in 2016. Additionally, she served as both Deputy and Director of Mobility Forces directing more than 2,700 airlift missions, supporting the recovery of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

Prior to her current assignment, Brig. Gen. Maher served as the Commander, 375th Air Mobility Wing, Scott AFB, Illinois, and later as Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, Headquarters Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia.

EDUCATION
1995 Bachelor of Arts, Spanish, Wichita State University, Kan.
2000 Squadron Officers School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2002 Master of Science, Organizational Management, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
2002 Weapons Instructor Course, Fairchild AFB, Wash.
2005 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., by correspondence
2009 Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., by correspondence
2014 Brazilian National War College, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2015 Joint Professional Military Education II, Norfolk, Va.
2020 United Kingdom Higher Command and Staff College, Shrivenham, U.K.

ASSIGNMENTS
1. March 1996–November 1997, Joint Undergraduate Navigator Training, Pensacola Naval Air Station, Fla., and Randolph AFB, Texas
2. November 1997–June 2001, Chief of Scheduling, 22nd Air Refueling Wing, McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.
3. June 2001–June 2002, Air Force Intern, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Arlington, Va.
4. July 2002–January 2003, Weapons Instructor School, 509th Weapons Squadron, Fairchild AFB, Wash.
5. February 2003–February 2006, Executive Officer, 18th Operations Group, Kadena Air Base, Japan
6. March 2006–November 2008, Weapons and Tactics Flight Commander 22nd Air Refueling Wing, McConnell AFB, Kan.
7. December 2008–April 2011, Japan Country Director, Northeast Asia Division, Joint Staff J5 Strategic Plans and Programs Directorate, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
8. April 2011–May 2013, Commander, 6th Operations Support Squadron, MacDill AFB, Fla.
9. May 2013–December 2013, Student, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, Calif.
10. December 2013–December 2014, Student, Brazilian National War College, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
11. December 2014–May 2015, Special Assistant to the Commander, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
12. June 2015–July 2017, Commander, 621st Contingency Response Group, JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
13. July 2017–February 2018, Chief, Special Access Programs Division, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott AFB, Ill.
14. February 2018–March 2019, Commander, 375th Air Mobility Wing, Scott AFB, Ill.
15. March 2019–May 2020, Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va.
16. May 2020–present, Commander, Jeanne M. Holm Center, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

SUMMARY OF JOINT ASSIGNMENTS
1. December 2008–April 2011, Japan Country Director, Northeast Asia Division and Executive Assistant to the Director, Joint Staff J5 Strategic Plans and Programs Directorate, the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., as a major and a lieutenant colonel

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Master Navigator
Flight hours: over 1,900
Aircraft Flown: T-43, T-34C, and KC-135R/T

MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with oak leaf cluster
Aerial Combat Support Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal
Air Force Achievement Medal with 3 oak leaf clusters

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS
Airlift and Tanker Association Young Leadership Award

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant March 15, 1996
First Lieutenant March 15, 1998
Captain March 15, 2000
Major March 1, 2006
Lieutenant Colonel March 1, 2010
Colonel Oct. 1, 2014
Brigadier General Frocked

(Current as of May 2020)