{"id":10948,"date":"2025-12-12T20:27:26","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T20:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=10948"},"modified":"2025-12-12T20:28:56","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T20:28:56","slug":"first-maryland-airman-named-joint-staff-senior-enlisted-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2025\/12\/12\/first-maryland-airman-named-joint-staff-senior-enlisted-advisor\/","title":{"rendered":"First Maryland Airman named Joint Staff Senior Enlisted Advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Senior Master Sgt. Chris Schepers
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MIDDLE RIVER, Md. – A Maryland Airman is the first-ever Air Force senior enlisted advisor to the Joint Staff, supporting the total force mission of the Maryland National Guard from Camp Fretterd Military Reservation.<\/p>\n

Maryland Air National Guard Chief Master Sgt. Monica Aragon, the former 175th Logistics Readiness Squadron senior enlisted leader, will report directly to Maryland Army National Guard Brig. Gen. Craig Hunter, director of the MDNG Joint Staff.<\/p>\n

“Throughout my career as a commissioned officer, I have depended on the invaluable advice and guidance of senior enlisted members,\u201d said Hunter. \u201cWhen I assumed the role of director of Joint Staff, I recognized the need for a strategic partner and sought the opportunity to select a senior enlisted advisor. After interviewing Chief Aragon, I knew immediately she was the perfect fit for the position. Her experience, dedication, and genuine passion for Airmen and Soldiers are evident in every conversation. I am honored to serve alongside her.”<\/p>\n

Aragon began her career in 2003 when she enlisted in the Arizona National Guard as a plans and implementation specialist. Shortly thereafter, she made a career change and transferred to the logistics squadron at the 162nd Fighter Wing in Tucson, where she served in multiple roles, including war readiness, demand processing, retail sales, and hazardous materials.<\/p>\n

After a Guard-wide downsizing period in 2007, Aragon made another career transition. After a brief stint with recruiting, Aragon helped establish a newly formed unit at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. She was chosen to be part of the initial cadre of the 214th Reconnaissance Group, which was a geographically separated unit that flew the MQ-1 Predator, an unmanned aerial vehicle designed for reconnaissance, surveillance, and intelligence gathering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was responsible for maintaining all of the flight crew stats. I maintained their go\/no go stats, flying hours, and scheduling,\u201d said Aragon. \u201cDuring my tenure with the 214th, we grew from 80 to around 300 personnel. We were also mobilized, in place, for the duration of my 10 years there, supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2016, Aragon began to feel stuck in her career, so she logged into MyVector to search for a career mentor. That is where she found Chief Master Sgt. James Bottorff, who was then working with the Michigan Air National Guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I read his biography, I realized that is the type of person I want to model my career after,\u201d said Aragon. \u201cWhen I reached out to him, he welcomed me with open arms, and we would have conversations every other week or so.<\/p>\n

According to Aragon, Chief Bottorff was one of the main drivers behind her applying for a finance position with the Maryland Air National Guard. Borttorff is now the current 175th Wing command chief.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter meeting Chief Aragon through MyVector in 2016, I could tell she was a hard-charger who wouldn\u2019t settle for anything less than the best,\u201d said Bottorff. \u201cPrior to joining the Maryland Air National Guard, she was already creating training and development plans to improve her team and the wing.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2017, Aragon was selected for a financial management technician position with the 175th Wing, where she was responsible for military pay, travel pay, and civilian pay. In 2019, she applied for and was selected as the finance superintendent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved working in the finance office; we had a great team, and I loved serving the people working at the 175th Wing,\u201d explained Aragon. \u201cI enjoy customer service, so it was right in my wheelhouse. We streamlined a lot in the finance office and implemented new processes and procedures, and it was all because of the amazing staff in the comptroller flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

After serving five years in the finance office, Aragon transitioned to the 175th Logistics Readiness Squadron, where she served as the squadron superintendent. Aragon oversaw the expansion of their contributions to the Maryland National Guard\u2019s state partnership with Estonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.<\/p>\n

Aragon\u2019s final mission with LRS was an exercise with Estonia that focused on various mission sets within the Maryland National Guard. The training included 25 Airmen from medical, force support, and security forces, as well as five vehicle maintenance Soldiers from the Maryland Army National Guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat training was my last hurrah with the Logistics Readiness Squadron, and I am proud of what we accomplished as a team,\u201d said Aragon. \u201cI wanted to demonstrate what the airmen of the wing can do and how we can work together in a joint environment [with the Army] towards a common goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aragon earned a Master\u2019s Degree in DoD acquisitions management from the Naval Postgraduate School, which was the first time a Maryland Airman was accepted into the program. Afterwards, she began to streamline the process so other Airmen can receive support to obtain a degree through the same program.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince joining the 175th Wing, Chief Aragon has far exceeded expectations and sets an otherworldly example for others to follow,\u201d said Bottorff. \u201cHer dedication to the expansion of our Logistics Readiness Squadron\u2019s training with our state partners, to her work at the Naval Postgraduate School, has paved the way for future Airmen at the 175th Wing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aragon will now leverage her leadership and knowledge from a 22-year career to position the Airmen of the 175th Wing to be force multipliers for the Maryland National Guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Maryland Air National Guard is capable of more than people think,\u201d said Aragon. \u201cI am going into this position with the hopes of sharing and highlighting our capabilities while reiterating that our Airmen possess the skills and capabilities that can help move the Maryland National Guard into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Senior Master Sgt. Chris Schepers MIDDLE RIVER, Md. – A Maryland Airman is the first-ever Air Force senior enlisted advisor to the Joint Staff, supporting the total force mission of the Maryland National Guard from Camp Fretterd Military Reservation. Maryland Air National Guard Chief Master Sgt. Monica Aragon, the former 175th Logistics Readiness Squadron  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":10978,"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-10948","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\/10948","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\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10948"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10983,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10948\/revisions\/10983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}