Owego resident shares Afghanistan experience during recent Rotary meeting

Max Della Pia spoke about his experiences as a commander in Afghanistan during Owego Rotary’s recent October 2017 evening meeting. 

Before retiring in 2007, he deployed for seven months as Air Expeditionary Group Commander and Senior Airfield Authority at Kandahar, Afghanistan where he was the senior U.S. Air Force officer on a NATO base of over 10,000 people, responsible for operation and security of the airfield.   

Most notable about Max’s deployment is his care and concern for men and women under his leadership as a group and as individuals. A touching moment during his presentation is when Max spoke about the time he prayed with one of his men who was experiencing problems with his home life due to his deployment in Afghanistan.

Max is a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and a veteran with over 30 years of federal service in the Air Force as an active duty guard and reserve officer, pilot and commander. In the military, he served at various positions of responsibility, from squadron and wing level to numbered Air Force and the Air Staff.  

In 1999, he took command of the 109th Airlift Wing, New York Air National Guard. He was responsible for the care, equipping and training of 1,260 airmen and women (750 full-time), 14 C-130 aircraft and a $93 million budget. 

Max has also practiced law as a litigator, owned his own general practice, started a small business, and worked in business development for Lockheed Martin.

He and his wife Nancy have been married 33 years, raised three children, moved over ten times and currently live in Owego. He and Nancy are active members in Owego’s Rotary Club.