Major General Janeen L. Birckhead

Major General Janeen L. Birckhead became the 31st Adjutant General of Maryland on April 7, 2023. Prior to her appointment, she served as the Commander of the Maryland Army National Guard and was dual-hatted as the Deputy Commandant for Reserve Affairs at the U.S. Army War College.

Birkhead was born to Lewis and Fannie Mae Ward Birkhead and grew up in Snow Hill, Maryland. She was commissioned as a distinguished military graduate through the Reserve Officers Training Corps at Hampton University, earning a bachelor’s degree in Political Science. She holds a Master’s in Management from the University of Maryland.

Her military education includes the Chemical Officer Basic Course, the Adjutant General Officer Advanced Course, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the U.S. Army War College, where she earned a Master’s in Strategic Studies.

Birckhead previously served as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Maryland National Guard. Her command assignments included the 70th Regiment – Regional Training Institute, Aberdeen, MD; the 581st Troop Command Battalion, Hagerstown, MD; the Soldier Readiness Battalion, Reisterstown, MD; and B Company, 229th Main Support Battalion, 29th Infantry Division, Reisterstown, MD.

Birckhead mobilized under OEF/OIF, serving as the Tiger Team Leader and Designated Military Officer for the Office of Administrative Review for the Detention of Enemy Combatants. In 2011, Birckhead deployed as the Deputy of Current Operations, Security Partnering, and International Security Assistance Force, in Kabul, Afghanistan. In 2021, Birckhead became the lead for the statewide, COVID-19 Maryland Equity Task Force. In this position, she developed and integrated a planning team with the Maryland Department of Health for vaccine distribution, establishing the Mobile Vaccination Support Teams (MVST).

Birckhead's military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, NATO Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, Army Reserve Components Overseas Training Ribbon, and Afghanistan Campaign Medal.

In her civilian capacity, Birckhead is a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration and Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC. She began her civilian career in Washington, D.C., in the U.S. Senate. Her subsequent civilian career positions included State Equal Employment Opportunity Manager, Special Agent in Charge for the Defense Security Service, and Deputy Chief of Equal Opportunity and Civil Rights at the Office of Personnel Management, joining the Bureau of Indian Affairs as the Director of Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity for the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2010.