Héctor Andrés Negroni

In December 1992, Negroni became a private management consultant specializing in project, marketing, and proposal management. He was also involved with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, where he acted as eastern regional director; the Latin American Management Association as executive director and T.E. Systems, Inc. as vice president of business development. In 1996, he joined AlliedSignal Aerospace Company (which later became Honeywell International) as the general manager for their Huntsville, Alabama office. His responsibilities include marketing, sales and support activities with NASA's Marshall Space Center and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command at the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. He retired from the aerospace defense industry in 2000 and currently resides with his wife in Bonita Springs, Florida.

In October 1985, Negroni retired from the Air Force after 24 years of service. He then joined the McDonnell Douglas Corporation. He was named manager of the International Business Development for the Harpoon anti-ship missile program in the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company. In 1987 he was appointed manager of international program development for McDonnell Aircraft Company. In 1990 he was named general manager for McDonnell Douglas Spain Ltd., a subsidiary of McDonnell Douglas Corporation.

In 1980, Negroni was reassigned to the Pentagon and in 1981 promoted to colonel. Among the positions which he held in the Pentagon are the following:

In 1978, he was named the chief of liaison for the Joint United States Military Group in Spain. The Spanish Government presented Negroni with its highest Air Force peacetime award, the Aeronautical Merit Cross for his contributions to the successful implementation of the United States-Spain Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.

In 1973, he was assigned to the 317th Tactical Airlift Wing, Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, serving as an aircraft commander, flight commander, assistant operations officer, and wing chief of aircrew training. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1977 and became the commander of the 3rd Mobile Aerial Port Squadron.

In 1962, he received his pilot wings after completing pilot training at Reese Air Force Base, in Texas. In 1964, the Air Force presented him with a scholarship to pursue a master's degree at the University of Puerto Rico. In 1967, he graduated from the University of Puerto Rico and earned a Master of Arts degree in Hispanic Studies. Negroni served as an assistant professor of Spanish in the Air Force Academy between the years 1967 and 1971. There he taught and directed all the Spanish courses. He also holds degrees from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and the Air War College.

Negroni participated in combat missions during the Vietnam War and accumulated over 600 combat hours. During his tour he served in the 553rd Reconnaissance Squadron stationed in Korat, Thailand and as chief of combat operation in the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron in Udon, Thailand.

In 1956, he graduated from Frankford High School and enrolled in Drexel University, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he completed one year of civil engineering before he received appointments for all three service academies, The United States Military Academy at West Point, The United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, and the United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. He decided for the Air Force Academy, where in 1961 he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering with a major in public affairs. Negroni was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force and was awarded his navigator wings. While at Drexel University, Negroni was a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

Colonel Héctor Andrés Negroni (born January 30, 1938) is a United States Air Force officer, historian, senior aerospace defense executive, author, and the first Puerto Rican graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He was commissioned by Spain's Fifth Centennial Commission to write the "Historia Militar de Puerto Rico" (A Military History of Puerto Rico).