Retired Air Force Major General Linda R. “UV” Urrutia-Varhall was elected to the Board of Trustees of The Aerospace Corporation on December 11, 2024.
Maj. Gen. Urrutia-Varhall is the former director of operations at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where she was responsible for more than 7,500 people and a $1.2 billion budget focused on geospatial operations, setting and leading strategy execution for the inclusion of geospatial data. She also led the restructuring of the largest unit in the U.S. Air Force and created the infrastructure and strategy for a new cyber program, overseeing 1,300 people and a $72 million budget. She also led the training of 14,500 people to execute operations in the event of crisis or nuclear attack.
Previously, Maj. Gen. Urrutia-Varhall served as assistant deputy chief of staff, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) for the U.S. Air Force at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and before that, as director of ISR at U.S. Southern Command. She also served as the right hand to the director of National Intelligence and the under secretary of defense for Intelligence.
During her decades-long career in the Air Force, Maj. Gen. Urrutia-Varhall held command and staff positions in the wing, major command, headquarters, and joint environments. Following her initial assignments at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, she was selected to participate in the Professional Military Graduate Intelligence Program in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, she became the first Air Force representative to the National Military Intelligence Center. Her service at the Pentagon also included executive support duty to three secretaries of defense. She was named to command the first Air Force Information Warfare Flight at 9th Air Force/Central Air Forces, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. When deployed to southwest Asia, she served as chief of the Analysis Division and an operations officer for the Joint Intelligence Center at U.S. Central Command Headquarters Forward.
Maj. Gen. Urrutia-Varhall’s many honors and awards include being recognized as the first Latina U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and Latina in the U.S. Air Force to attain the rank of major general. She was named Major General Jack Thomas National Military Intelligence Officer of the Year; received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Latina Style Inc.; and was selected among a national field as one of the “50 Women to Watch for Boards.” She was awarded the Air Force Distinguished Service medal with oak leaf cluster, Defense Superior Service medal with three oak leaf clusters, Legion of Merit with an oak leaf, and the National Intelligence Superior Service Medal.
Maj. Gen. Urrutia-Varhall is an active member or advisor of several boards and committees. Acknowledged as a respected leader, diversity champion, and dynamic speaker on topics such as intelligence, cyber, space, national security, threat analysis, data technology, and diversity, equity, and inclusion, she has been featured on television, radio, and in numerous publications.
Maj. Gen. Urrutia-Varhall is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. She is also a distinguished graduate of Defense Intelligence College, where she earned a master’s degree in strategic intelligence. She went on to complete additional coursework at Air Command and Staff College, Armed Forces Staff College, and a National Defense Fellowship at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.