Colonel Jessica A. Guarini

Col Jessica A. Guarini served as a Department of Air Force Senior Military Fellow, Center for a New American Security, Washington, DC. Previous to her assignment as a fellow, she was the Aide-de-Camp to the 11th and 12th Vice Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, where she coordinated and executed engagements with the Joint Staff, Service Staffs, Office of the Secretary of Defense, National Security Council, and the White House. Additionally, she managed all aspects of travel and daily logistical support, to include synchronizing security, protocol, and communication requirements. Her contingency expertise was crucial to the Joint Staff and interagency leadership during both the Afghanistan withdraw and the Ukraine and Russia conflict.

Lt Col Guarini entered the Air Force in 2003 after graduating from the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Delaware. Her career includes numerous operational and staff positions across four major commands. She is a graduate of Air Mobility Command’s premier leadership development program, PHOENIX MOBILITY, where she planned and executed Combatant Commander’s Air Tasking Orders as a Tanker Planner and also served as a Contingency Response Element Commander. Additionally, she was selected as a Presidential Advance Agent and has coordinated multiple Air Force One visits in support of POTUS. She served as the Chief of the United States Air Forces in Europe – United States Air Forces Africa’s Global Force Management Branch and was responsible for aligning rotational and emergent Combatant Commander’s requirements with the Secretary of Defense’s Global Force Management Allocation Plan. She then served as the Commander of the of the 22d Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, in which she fused 570 Total Force personnel from 25 Wings in Air Force Central Command’s largest tanker squadron. Her unit accounted for 78 percent of all KC-135 missions within the Area of Responsibility and provided the only Multi-Point Refueling System capability within the combat theater. Following KC-135 squadron command, Lt Col Guarini served as the Commander of the 621st Contingency Response Squadron, in which she led Airmen from across a spectrum of 27 unique special ties. Her diverse unit provided first response teams in support of contingency, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, noncombatant evacuation, and Homeland Defense operations. Furthermore, her unit participated in various taskings for the purpose of establishing initial airfield operations, security, force protection, aerial port, maintenance, and expeditionary combat support functions.

Lieutenant Colonel Guarini has deployed in support of Operations IRAQI FREEDOM, ENDURING FREEDOM, NEW DAWN, NOBLE EAGLE, INHERENT RESOLVE, and DELIBERATE RESOLVE, accumulating over 1600 combat and combat support flight hours. She is a command pilot with over 3,200 flight hours.