UA Little Rock Alum Leads Strategic Communications for Major Air Force Command

By day, Maggie Kealy-Machella served as a public affairs officer at Little Rock Air Force Base eight years ago. By night, she tackled graduate coursework — fueled by determination that later helped launch her into senior communications leadership in the U.S. Air Force.

The South Side of Chicago native now helps shape communication strategy for one of the Air Force’s largest commands — a role she credits, in part, to her graduate education.

While on active duty, Kealy-Machella earned her master’s degree in mass communication in 2018 from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Her degree focus was on strategic communication/public relations.

“During my degree program, I was working as a communications professional in the United States Air Force Public Affairs office at Little Rock Air Force Base,” she explained. “As a public affairs officer, I’ve continued to use my degree throughout my career. In strategy and assessments, I rely daily on the core principles I learned in the program.”

Today, Maj. Kealy-Machella is chief of the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC) Public Affairs Strategy and Assessments Division, headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Va.

She develops communication strategies for ACC leadership and its 36 wings, helping them engage both internal audiences (Airmen and families) and external audiences (the American public). She also creates and uses assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of those communication efforts.

Her path to leadership began with a desire for purpose and structure, which the Air Force offered.

“I saw the bigger picture, the structure it provided yet opportunities for problem solving and creative thinking, and the solid benefits and I was all in,” Kealy-Machella said. “At first, I felt in over my head…Over the past 12 years, I’ve grown personally and professionally and found myself at home with the people and the mission. It’s truly been the adventure of a lifetime.”

Her assignments have taken her from Arkansas to Idaho to Hawaii and beyond. A month-long deployment to Australia remains a highlight, where she led a team working alongside Royal Australian Air Force counterparts during Exercise Talisman Sabre, one of the largest multilateral exercises in the region.

“We were doing some amazing work communicating about our collective interoperability and alliance,” she said. “And of course, we got to experience the culture and explore the Outback.”

Her daughter was especially impressed by stories about wildlife. The family later returned for vacation, which Kealy-Machella calls “the trip of a lifetime.”

Before joining the Air Force, Kealy-Machella earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While stationed at Little Rock, she pursued a hybrid graduate program that offered in-person and online classes — a good fit for military life. She used Air Force tuition assistance and university military discounts to cover most costs.

“There were many late nights doing homework, and the rush to get to class in person…but at the end of the day, it was a short time of working hard to earn my degree, a time that was well worth it,” she said, adding that she valued being able to apply classroom lessons to real-world projects immediately.

Throughout the program, Kealy-Machella leaned on the support of her husband, Mike, whom she met in Little Rock. The couple often studied together as he pursued his own degree at a different university.

“He didn’t just support me through my degree program, but continues to support me through this crazy military life,” she said. “We got married during this program, and throughout the whole time, he supported me and encouraged me even when it was tough.”

Kealy-Machella said her graduate education built a foundation for thoughtful, responsible communication.

“As we continue into our future, there are many uncertainties,” she said. “One thing that is certain, however, is that information will continue to play a massive role in society and daily life. We need to continuously evolve and learn how to leverage information to make decisions and remain informed instead of letting that information own our emotions and our actions.”