Edward Dionicio Baca (July 27, 1938 – September 15, 2020) was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army who was the first Hispanic to serve as Chief of the National Guard Bureau.

[1] One of six children, Baca attended St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe, helping to pay the tuition by working on construction crews during summers.

Seeking to help Baca recover and begin a career, a cousin convinced him to join the National Guard, and on November 19, 1956, he became a member of Battery C, 726th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion.

[6] In 1995, the United States Department of Defense planned to cut the number of National Guard combat divisions by 50% in order to allocate more funding to active duty forces.

Baca strongly resisted this attempt, replying to those in the Pentagon who called for a justification of Guard combat units' contribution to national security: "There were a lot of folks who said the same thing before World War II, 'Where's the threat?

'"[7] By 1998, his efforts paid off when Guardsmen were needed to supplement the US complement for SFOR in Bosnia, and were available, enabling the National Guard to deploy its first combat unit overseas in nearly thirty years.

"[8] In 1998, Baca unsuccessfully attempted to have the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery changed to eliminate what he perceived as cultural biases.