Col Paul E. Jara is the Director of Staff, Arkansas Air National Guard. In this role he serves as a conduit of support to all Air National Guardsmen in Arkansas as they meet the strategic goals of the state, the Air National Guard and of the United States Air Force. Col Jara was commissioned as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) in 1994 and was immediately assigned as a Test and Evaluation Engineer, Facility Engineer and Executive Officer for the Propulsion Directorate, Air Force Research Lab, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He then served as Unit Admissions Officer and Commandant of Cadets for Miami University’s AFROTC program in Oxford, Ohio. He transferred to the National Guard as a drill status guardsman at the 179th Airlift Wing, Mansfield, Ohio, where he acted as the Group Executive Officer and Emergency Management Officer providing leadership in base disaster preparedness. Upon entering the Arkansas Guard, he served as the Operations Officer, Deputy Base Engineer, Base Civil Engineer, and finally, Commander for the 189th Civil Engineer Squadron, Little Rock AFB, Ark. In 2013 he deployed as the Commander of the 455th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. Prior to assuming his current position he served as the Strategic Plans, Policy and Future Operations officer for the Arkansas Director of Military Support where he worked with the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management preparing the state for natural disasters. In addition to his current job he is the Chairperson for the National Guard Director of Staff Advisory Council and a board member for the Arkansas National Guard Foundation and the Arkansas national Guard Moral Welfare and Recreation Board. While serving as a guardsman in 2001 through 2004 he was self-employed as a Financial Planner, and has continued to provide financial planning guidance as an educational foundation volunteer. His is married to the former Elizabeth Lineberry, and they have five children, Patricio, Isabel, Peter, Evelyn, and Adeline.
