Jaime Areizaga-Soto (array – saga – soto) serves as the Deputy Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs of Virginia. Mr. Areizaga-Soto works with the Secretary in advising Governor McAuliffe on all matters related to the almost 750,000 Virginia veterans and in ensuring an excellent relationship between the Commonwealth and all Department of Defense (DoD) assets in Virginia. The Secretariat leads Governor’s McAuliffe’s initiatives to ensure Virginia remains DoD’s installation location of choice and is the most “military-friendly” state in the Nation.

Mr. Areizaga-Soto graduated with honors from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and upon graduation was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. After graduating from Stanford Law School, he practiced for twelve years with large U.S. law firms focusing in cross border infrastructure project finance. He is a former White House Fellow at the U.S. Treasury Department and also served as the Senior Attorney Advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Concurrently, he has served as an Army National Guard JAG for over 20 years, holds the rank of Colonel, and today serves as the Commander of the National Guard Bureau’s Legal Support Office in Arlington, Virginia. In 2013 he was called to active duty to attend the war college in Fort McNair, where his fellow senior officers from the various U.S. services and 15 other nations elected him Class President.

Mr. Areizaga-Soto holds a law degree (juris doctor) and Masters in Latin American Studies from Stanford University, a Masters in Security and Defense from the Inter-American Defense College, and a Mágister from the National Academy of Political and Strategic Studies (ANEPE) of Chile. He is a 2009 graduate of the University of Virginia’s Sorensen Political Leaders Program. Mr. Areizaga-Soto is a member of the Bars of Virginia, New York, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been elected and served in senior positions of state and national Bar Associations. He is a lifetime member of the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) and is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese and French.