Pilar Mañas Brugat

In February 2020, she was one of the key players in the positive resolution of the incident involving an Air Canada plane that had to fly over Madrid for hours before making a forced landing. This achievement, coordinated with other experts and a large team, could be made public and was reported in an article "Incidente Aéreo Air Canada" in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Magazine of Spain (in Spanish Revista de Aeronáutica y Astronáutica) published in May 2020.

In August 2020, she was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force (JEMA), as Head of Institutional Relations and Protocol, Head of Communication and website as well as assistant to the JEMA occasionally. This was an institutional rol. That year she was also one of the people chosen in the I Applaud You project (in Spanish proyecto Yo te aplaudo) for her contribution to overcoming COVID-19 during the pandemic. In 2021, on the occasion of the Military parade on 12 October in Madrid, Mañas was the military expert on the Spanish public television team broadcasting the event. It was offered by Spanish channels through La 1, Canal 24 Horas, TVE Internacional and RTVE Play.

In continuous training, Mañas specialised in 2019 in the Promotion of Women's Leadership in the FAS, through the Permanent Secretary for Equality, in 2020 in Equality Policy in the Armed Forces, at the Ministry of Defence. And in 2022 she completed the United Nations Military Gender Advisor Course from MGA Training, Australia. She also obtained a TRM Facilitator qualification from ENAIRE and a Private Pilot Licence from the Flyschool Air Academy.

In 2018, she was named an Exemplary Woman (Spanish: Mujer Referente) by the Spanish Government's Institute of Women and Equal Opportunities [es] in the first edition of these awards, and Woman of the Year by the Madrid Third Millennium Forum (FMTM). She continues to give talks about the importance of the presence of women in the Army. She also collaborates with the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs, Managers and Executives (ANAEDE) and continues to give talks on the importance of the presence of women in the military.

After a 20-year career, she was promoted to Comandante (equivalent to Major) and was commissioned to direct ECAO Madrid, thus returning to her first posting. On 2 August 2017, she became the first woman to take command of a unit in the Spanish Air Force. She took command of the headquarters of ECAO Madrid at a ceremony held at Torrejón Air Base. The ceremony was chaired by General Rafael García Hernández, Chief of the Command and Control System, and attended by military and civil authorities, including the heads of the units located at the base and the director of the Central-North Region of ENAIRE. This historical event was picked up in the media and social networks, receiving congratulations from, among other people and institutions, the Minister of Defense, María Dolores de Cospedal.

Mañas is an expert in Tactical Leadership Programme-Electronic Warfare Course (EWC) since 2014, NATO CASPOA Q1 "Air Battle Training Course" (Lyon, France) since 2015 and Protocol, Ceremonial and Organisation of Events in the Royal Guard since 2016. Since 2010, she has participated as a member of the Selection Board for the Selection Processes of Officers for admission to the Academies and she is a member of the Evaluation Boards for the promotion of officers to higher employment.

From 2003 to 2013, she was assigned to the Air Search and Rescue Service [es] (SAR), also at Torrejón Air Base. She was the SAR Mission and Operations Coordinator, assuming responsibilities such as guiding aerial searches, rescuing damaged aircraft, and saving lives. At this point she was promoted to Captain. After a decade of service in the SAR, Mañas was assigned to Air Force Mixed Group 47 in November 2013, again at Torrejón. She held specific Intelligence functions between 2013 and 2017 as part of the Exploitation Squadron and Head of IKM (Information and Knowledge Management).

Mañas is an air traffic and interception controller. She was trained at the General Air Academy [es] in San Javier, Murcia in the mid-1990s. After intensive preparation for the exam, she joined the Academy in September 1995 and finished in July 1998 as an Air Traffic Control Officer, Operational Air Traffic (CAO) Specialty, including airfield, approach, and area, as well as Interception Control. Upon completion, her first assignment was as Head of Operations and Instruction in the Operational Air Traffic Squadron (ECAO Madrid) in the municipality of Torrejón de Ardoz, a post she held from 1998 to 2003.Operational Air Circulation Squadrons are the instrument that allows the safe and fluid shared use of airspace for both General and Operational Air Circulation aircraft.

María del Pilar Mañas Brugat (born 24 July 1975) is a Spanish military officer. In 2017 she became the first woman to take command of a Spanish Air Force unit. She was named an Exemplary Woman (Spanish: Mujer Referente) by the Women's Institute [es] in 2018. In 2020 she was awarded the Commander of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild and in 2022 the Operation Balmis Commemorative Medal.