Born in Manchester, NH, Jay Block enlisted in the Air Force Reserves after high school. He attended North Dakota State University, graduating with a political science degree in 1995 and received a commission in 1995 in the United States Air Force as a second lieutenant. Jay served in various Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) duty locations as a missile launch officer and as a missile maintenance officer for the Minuteman III (MM III) weapon system.
In 2005, Jay volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He was assigned to the Office of Security Cooperation-Afghanistan, Kabul until March 2006.
Jay also served as a staff officer at Headquarters Air Force Space Command as an ICBM requirements officer and at the Pentagon as a nuclear policy officer on the Air Staff.
During Jay’s career he was selected to command twice, serving as the commander of Ascension Axillary Airfield, Detachment 2 in the South Atlantic and as a squadron commander of the 703rd Munitions Support Squadron (MUNSS) at Volkel Air Base, the Netherlands working with NATO.
Jay retired as a Lt Col in 2016 from Kirtland AFB, NM. After retirement he became a defense contractor and business developer. In 2016 he was the first Republican elected in District 2 on the Sandoval County Commission. He was reelected in 2020. He was elected to the State Senate in 2024.
Jay, his wife Jennifer, and their daughter reside in Rio Rancho, NM.
