Emilio Díaz Colón

Major General Emilio Díaz Colón[note 1] (born c. 1947), is a former United States National Guard officer who served as the Adjutant General of the Puerto Rican National Guard. In 2011, he became the first member of the PRNG to be named Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department.

Emilio Díaz Colón
Major General Emilio Díaz Colón
Nickname(s)	"Bilín"
Born	1947 (age 72–73) Yabucoa, Puerto Rico
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	Army National Guard
Years of service	1968-2001
Rank	Major General
Unit	101st Troop Command, 130th Engineer Battalion, 892d Engineer Company
Commands held	Puerto Rico Adjutant General
Awards	Meritorious Service Medal Army Commendation Medal
Other work	Superintendent of the Police of Puerto Rico
Police career
Country	Puerto Rico
Department	Puerto Rico Police Department
Rank	Superintendent (July 7, 2011-March 28, 2012)

Early years

Díaz Colón is the oldest of three siblings born to Emilio Díaz Lebron and Margarita Colón in the town of Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. His father was the head foreman of the Central Roig sugar cane plantation. The Central Roig was one of the last mills that produced sugar in Puerto Rico.[1] Díaz Colón was raised in his hometown where he received his primary and secondary education. Díaz Colón's brother, Luis F. "Pickie" Díaz Colón, a former Head of the National Parks Company, was once the Mayor of their hometown Yabucoa.[2]

In 1968, Díaz Colón joined the Puerto Rico Army National Guard (PRARNG) as an enlisted soldier in an engineer company, while at the same time he was enrolled and attended classes at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. In 1971, Díaz Colón earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Civil Engineering.[3]

Military career

Díaz Colón was selected to attend the Warrant Officer program at the United States Army Warrant Officer Career College in Fort Rucker, Alabama. Upon his graduation on February 4, 1975, he was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer One (WO1). He was then assigned to the HHC 130th Engineer Battalion at Vega Baja, Puerto Rico where he served as Utilities Maintenance Technician. On August 3, 1976, he was promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant and assigned as Engineering Officer for the same Battalion. From January 1977 to August 1979, Díaz Colón served with Company D 130th Engineer Battalion at Carolina, Puerto Rico in the positions of Engineer Platoon Leader and Company Executive Officer. After his promotion to the rank of Captain he was named Company Commander.[4]

In August 1979, he was reassigned to the 892d Engineer Company at Humacao, Puerto Rico as Company Commander and in September 1979, he was the Assistant S-3 of the Command and Control at PRNG Headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He served there until October 1979, when he returned to the 130th Engineer Battalion as Battalion Executive Officer.[4]

Government positions

In 1978, the Governor of Puerto Rico, Carlos Romero Barcelo appointed Díaz Colón to the position of Executive Director of the Authority of Solid Wastes in Puerto Rico. He served in this position until 1981. In that year, he was named Director of the Commissioners Office of Municipal Matters.[5] He served in this position until 1985, all the while in 1982, he was promoted to the rank of Major and in 1983, he attended the United States Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.[4]

During the years that he served in the Commissioners Office, the Puerto Rico National Guard named Díaz Colón Battalion Commander of the 130th Engineer Battalion. From 1985 to 1990, Díaz-Colón was given a Federal position when he was placed in charge of the Housing Urban Development (HUD) in the Caribbean.[5]

Adjutant General, Puerto Rico National Guard

From August 1985 to June 1992, Díaz Colón served with the 101st Troop Command at Headquarters, State Area Command, San Juan, Puerto Rico. On July 24, 1987, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and during the years in which he served at Headquarters, he served in various positions including that of Executive Officer.[4] On July 23, 1992, Díaz Colón was promoted to the rank of Colonel in the Regular Army and on December 22, of the same year he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. In January 1993, he was named the Adjutant General of the Puerto Rico National Guard. As Adjutant General, he was the Governor's senior military adviser and oversaw both state and federal missions of the Puerto Rico National Guard. He also provided effective leadership and management in the implementation of all programs and policies affecting more than 11,100 Puerto Rico National Guard citizens-soldiers. Díaz Colón was promoted to Major General (Line) on November 18, 1993 and continued as Adjustant General until he retired from the Puerto Rico Army National Guard in 2001.[4]

Superintendent of the Police of Puerto Rico

In July 2011, Luis Fortuño, the Governor of Puerto Rico, named Díaz Colón for the position of Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police Department. He thus became the first person who was a former Adjutant General of the Puerto Rico National Guard to be named to that position.[2][6] Díaz Colón entered the Police Department in the middle of a record-breaking year in murders in Puerto Rico, and has received harsh criticisms ever since from various sectors.[7][8][9][10][11][12] On March 28, 2012, after only 9 months on the job, Díaz Colón resigned as Superintendent.[13]

Military decorations and awards

Among Major General Díaz Colón's military decorations and awards are the following:[4]

•   Meritorious Service Medal
•   Army Commendation Medal (with one bronze oak leaf cluster)
•   Army Achievement Medal
•   Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal
•   National Defense Service Medal
•   Humanitarian Service Medal
•   Armed Forces Reserve Medal (with Gold Hourglass Device)
•   Army Service Ribbon

Puerto Rico National Guard decorations

•   Puerto Rico Commendation Medal
•   Puerto Rico Service Medal
•   Puerto Rico Exemplary Conduct Ribbon
•   Puerto Rico Civil Disturbance Ribbon
•   Puerto Rico Disaster Relief Ribbon
•   Puerto Rico Active Duty for Training Ribbon

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans
• List of Superintendents of the Puerto Rico Police
• List of Puerto Rican military personnel
• Puerto Rico Adjutant General

Notes

1. This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Díaz and the second or maternal family name is Colón.

References

1. Central Roig sugar cane plantation
2. Noticentro
3. "National Guard Bureau". Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
4. "National Guard Bio". Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
5. ""Designado Emilio Díaz Colón como superintendente"; El Vocero". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-07-20.
6. Puerto Rico chooses soldier for next police chief
7. Seguro de sus ejecutorias on El Vocero; Camilo Torres, Raúl (November 16, 2011)
8. Pierluisi le pide a "Millo" que se ponga para su número on El Vocero; CyberNews (September 29, 2011)
9. Superintendente de la Policía ¿Por qué? Archived 2012-01-13 at the Wayback Machine on El Vocero; InterNews Service (September 29, 2011)
10. Que se vaya, que se vaya Archived 2011-12-05 at the Wayback Machine on El Vocero; Correa Velázquez, Melissa (September 29, 2011)
11. Willito también le pide la renuncia al Super Archived 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine on El Vocero; InterNews Service (September 29, 2011)
12. Duras críticas a Emilio Díaz Colón on El Nuevo Día; Colón Dávila, Javier (November 24, 2011)
13. "Fuera de la Superintendencia de la Policía Emilio Díaz Colón". El Nuevo Día. March 28, 2012.

Military offices
Preceded by Major General William Miranda Marín	Adjutant General of the Puerto Rico National Guard 1993–2001	Succeeded by Major General Francisco A. Márquez
Police appointments
Preceded by José Luis Rivera Díaz	Superintendent of the Puerto Rico Police 2011–2012	Succeeded by Héctor Pesquera