BRIGADIER GENERAL DANIEL J. BEGIN
Brigadier General Daniel J. Begin is the Assistant Adjutant General of the Minnesota Air National Guard. In this role, he is chief advisor to The Adjutant General on all matters pertaining to Air National Guard operations, training, and readiness. He is responsible for command supervision, oversight, and leadership of the 133rd Airlift Wing and the 148th Fighter Wing, to include all items pertaining to manning, readiness, training, and equipping of units in the Minnesota Air National Guard. Additionally, he is dual-hatted as the Air National Guard Assistant to the Commander, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. In this unique position, General Begin provides critical insight, support and advisement to the Expeditionary Center and its Commander, responsible for over 14,000 Airmen supporting global air mobility, installation support and world-wide contingency response operations to America’s Armed Forces.
Brig Gen Begin received his commission from the United States Air Force Academy in May 1996. He previously served as the unit Chief of Standardization and Evaluation, Chief Pilot, Chief Group Executive Officer, Chief of Weapons and Tactics, and evaluator and instructor pilot in the C-130E, C-130H and T-1A. Brig Gen Begin transferred his commission to the Air National Guard in 2007, became a qualified aircraft commander in the C-130J, and later qualified in the Air Force Special Operations Command EC-130J. His assignments in the Air National Guard include Commander, 166th Maintenance Group, Delaware Air National Guard, New Castle, Delaware; Deputy Director, Plan and Requirements Directorate at the National Guard Bureau, Joint Base Andrews, during which he was responsible for all modernization programs and requirements within the Air National Guard, to include fighter/attack, transport/tanker, and special operations/special mission major weapons systems; ground support equipment; space, intelligence, and cyber; and Domestic Support to Civil Authorities mission sets; Chief, Policy Division (Acting) and Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, responsible for the Congressional portfolios and issues with Homeland Defense, Western Hemisphere, and Europe/NATO/Euro-Asia/Russian Policy, and the Defense Department representative to the White House Intergovernmental Affairs Council for Federal/State and Governor issues, to include the Council of Governors. Brig Gen Begin previously served as an Air Force Legislative Fellow assigned to the Capitol Hill office of Montana Senator Jon Tester.
Brig Gen Begin has operational flying experience in Europe, North Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East with multiple combat tours in Operations JOINT FORGE, JOINT GUARDIAN, JOINT ENTERPRISE, IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM, to include attachment with the Joint Special Operations Northern Directive. He served as an Air Force One Advance Agent at locations throughout the world from 2005-2017 and as Military Liaison to the National Archives & Records Administration and The White House during the President George W. Bush Record's Movement of 2008-2009. Prior to his current assignment, Brig Gen Begin was the Director of Air Mobility Command Legislative Affairs and Special Assistant to the Air Mobility Command Commander, assigned to the National Capital Region, where he directed all legislative affairs on Capitol Hill for the command and acted as Command Special Advisor to Higher Headquarters Air Force, Joint Staff, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.
EDUCATION
1996 Bachelor of Science, Political Science, United States Air Force Academy, Colo.
2001 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.
2010 Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2011 Master Certificate in Legislative Studies, Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
2012 Master in Military Arts and Science, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2015 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala., by correspondence
2024 Alan L. Freed Associates National and International Security Leadership Seminar, Capitol Hill Club, Washington, D.C
2024 Senior Leader Orientation Course, Joint Base Andrews, Md.
ASSIGNMENTS
1. December 1996 - December 1997, Student Pilot, Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training, Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas
2. December 1997 - May 1998, Student Instructor Pilot, T-1A Pilot Instructor Training, Randolph AFB, Texas
3. May 1998 - May 2001, T-1A Standardization & Evaluation/Instructor Pilot, 86th Flying Training Squadron, Laughlin AFB, Texas
4. May 2001 - October 2001, Student Pilot, C-130 Flying Training Unit, 53d Airlift Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Ark.
5. October 2001 - June 2004, C-130E Instructor Pilot/Aircraft Commander, 37th Airlift Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
6. June 2004 - June 2007, C-130E/H Chief of Standardization & Evaluation/Chief Pilot/Instructor Pilot & Aircraft Commander, 61st Airlift Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Ark.
7. June 2007 - June 2010, C-130J Aircraft Commander/Pilot, 135th Airlift Squadron, Warfield Air National Guard Base, Md.
8. June 2010 - January 2011, Air Force Legislative Fellow, Secretary of the Air Force Legislative Liaison Office, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
9. January 2011 - December 2011, Air Force Legislative Fellow, Office of Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
10. December 2011 - December 2013, Special Assistant/Legislative Liaison, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, The Pentagon, Washington D.C.
11. December 2013 - August 2015, Chief, Policy Division (Acting)/Special Assistant, Office of the Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
12. August 2015 - April 2016, Chief, Mobility Air Forces Branch, Plans and Requirements Directorate, National Guard Bureau, Joint Base Andrews, Md.
13. April 2016 - February 2018, Chief, Operational Requirements Division, Plans and Requirements Directorate, National Guard Bureau, JB Andrews, Md.
14. February 2018 - May 2021, Deputy Director, Plan and Requirements Directorate, National Guard Bureau, JB Andrews, Md.
15. May 2021 - March 2023, Commander, 166th Maintenance Group, Delaware Air National Guard, New Castle, Del.
16. March 2023 - November 2026, Director, Air Mobility Command Legislative Affairs / Special Assistant to the Air Mobility Command Commander, National Capital Region, Va.
17. December 2023 - Present, Assistant Adjutant General – Air, Minnesota Air National Guard, Minneapolis, Minn.; dual-hatted, October 2024 - Present, Air National Guard Assistant to the Commander, U.S., Air Force Expeditionary Center, McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: command pilot
Flight hours: more than 4,000 hours
Aircraft flown: T-3, T-37B, T-1A, C-130E, C-130H, C-130J, and EC-130J
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
Legion of Merit
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Medal with four oak leaf clusters
Aerial Achievement Medal
Air and Space Commendation Medal
Air and Space Achievement Medal
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 29, 1996
First Lieutenant May 29, 1998
Captain May 29, 2000
Major May 1, 2006
Lieutenant Colonel March 15, 2012
Colonel Dec. 7, 2016
Brigadier General Nov. 1, 2023
(Current as of January 2025)
