File:Michael Montelongo, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller.jpg

Michael Montelongo is Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. He is also the principal adviser to the Secretary of the Air Force, Chief of Staff and other senior Air Force officials for budgetary and fiscal matters. With a budget of more than $124 billion, he serves as the Air Force's Chief Financial Officer responsible for providing the financial management and analytical services necessary for the effective and efficient use of Air Force resources. He was sworn in Aug. 6, 2001, as the 18th Assistant Secretary and is the senior Hispanic official in the Air Force.

Mr. Montelongo entered public service in 1977 as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and completed the U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Ga., in 1978. He then served in line and staff positions from platoon to Department of the Army levels at varied U.S. and overseas posts. An Air Defense Artillery Officer, he was Special Assistant to the Commander in Chief of U.S. Southern Command, Speechwriter and Special Assistant to the Army Chief of Staff, and a congressional fellow in the U.S. Senate. In 1996, he entered private industry with BellSouth Telecommunications, and later became a Sales Executive and Consultant with Cap Gemini Ernst and Young.

Mr. Montelongo has been active in several civic pursuits. These include serving as Vice President of Community Services for the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta, on the board of directors for the Georgia Voter Hispanic Registration Campaign, and directing youth and young adult ministries for the Atlanta archdiocese. A New York City native, Mr. Montelongo is listed in Hispanic Business Magazine's "100 Most Influencial Hispanics" and in Hispanic Engineer Magazine's "50 Most Important Hispanics in Technology and Business."