{"id":10281,"date":"2025-03-02T14:54:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T14:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=10281"},"modified":"2025-03-02T14:55:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T14:55:58","slug":"175th-wing-commander-promotes-to-brigadier-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2025\/03\/02\/175th-wing-commander-promotes-to-brigadier-general\/","title":{"rendered":"175th Wing commander promotes to brigadier general"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Maryland
Maryland Air National Guard Brig. Gen. Richard D. Hunt, commander of the 175th Wing, speaks to the many attendees during his promotion ceremony at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, February 28, 2025. Hunt was promoted to brigadier general surrounded by friends, family, and fellow Airmen. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover)<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Story by Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover\u00a0<\/strong><\/i><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

MIDDLE RIVER, Md. – Maryland Air National Guard Col. Richard D. Hunt, commander of the 175th Wing, was promoted to brigadier general during a ceremony at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, February 28, 2025, surrounded by friends, family, and fellow Airmen.

Maryland Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, adjutant general for Maryland, hosted the promotion ceremony and recognized Hunt\u2019s family for their sacrifice and support while also highlighting why Hunt deserves his accolades.

\u201cWhether executing precision strikes, dominating the airspace in combat, or training the next wave of elite pilots, Rich embodies the core values of \u2018Integrity First, Service Before Self, and Excellence in All We Do\u2019 and I know he will continue in this vein well into the future,\u201d said Birckhead. \u201cHunt\u2019s dedication to the men and women of the Maryland Air National Guard, coupled with his commitment to mission excellence, makes him one of the most highly respected senior officers in both the Air National Guard and the U.S. Air Force.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Maryland
Maryland Army National Guard Maj. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, adjutant general for Maryland, presents a certificate of promotion to Maryland Air National Guard Col. Richard D. Hunt, commander of the 175th Wing, during a ceremony at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, February 28, 2025. Hunt was promoted to brigadier general and recognized for his career of many achievements. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover)<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Hunt joined the U.S. Air Force in 1999 by commissioning from the Air National Guard Academy of Military Science after graduating from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in 1997. In June 2000, he earned his aeronautical rating at EURO-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training and subsequently graduated from the Air Force Weapons School in 2005.

Previously, Hunt commanded the 175th Operations Group, 175th Maintenance Group, and 175th Operations Support Squadron and was also an A-10 instructor pilot. He has flown over 1,000 A-10 combat hours, and as a civilian, Hunt is a pilot for a major airline.<\/p>\n

During his career, Hunt has served in seven contingency deployments in the U.S. Central Command area of operations, including Iraq and Afghanistan.

\u201cMy military career has been a product of the period of time since September 11 happened, where two weeks later we deployed to the Middle East for a combat deployment, and I was a brand new A-10 pilot with my dream job,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cBut that event and attack, followed by many other deployments, has absolutely shaped my thinking, my priorities to the mission and how I approach day-to-day problem solving by being very mission-focused and always supporting our mission partners.\u201d

Hunt has also served as the National Guard Bureau A8 Planning and Programming Cyber and Space Branch Chief at the Air National Guard Readiness Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

\u201cI’ve had such a phenomenal list of leaders who have set an example, challenged me, held me accountable, and pointed out opportunities even if they seemed uncomfortable at the time,\u201d said Hunt. \u201cSuch as my time working with the National Guard Bureau, I felt incredibly challenged, but the growth that came from it, the experiences that I walked away with, and the greater understanding I now have of how the U.S. Air Force functions have allowed me to bring these learning opportunities back to the Wing to apply and become more successful. Every bit of it has contributed to this growth, even if it wasn’t planned out.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his role as wing commander, Hunt oversees approximately 1,400 personnel, including an A-10 Operations Group, Cyberspace Operations Group, and an Intelligence Squadron. He is responsible for the combat readiness of 21 A-10C Thunderbolt II aircraft, as well as the necessary aircrew and aircraft maintainers, supervising a budget of over $46 million and over $37 million for base infrastructure and real property.

Along with his position as commander of the 175th Wing, Hunt is responsible for resolving enterprise-wide issues from the field as the A-10 Weapon System Council Chair for the Air National Guard Readiness Center, Joint Base Andrews, Maryland.

\u201cFor me, my faith takes care of tomorrow,\u201d Hunt said. \u201cMy focus is always on doing the job that I’m tasked with today and if I do that to the best of my ability, then tomorrow takes care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Maryland
Maryland Air National Guard Col. Richard D. Hunt, commander of the 175th Wing, is pinned by his family and promoted to brigadier general during a ceremony at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, February 28, 2025. Hunt acknowledged his reliance on family and faith as the primary driving force throughout the entirety of his career. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story by Airman 1st Class Sarah Hoover\u00a0 MIDDLE RIVER, Md. – Maryland Air National Guard Col. Richard D. Hunt, commander of the 175th Wing, was promoted to brigadier general during a ceremony at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport, February 28, 2025, surrounded by friends, family, and fellow Airmen. Maryland Army National  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":10285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10281","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10281"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10292,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10281\/revisions\/10292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}