If confirmed by the Senate, Troy Meink will succeed Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.
President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday that he has chosen Troy Meink, a former Air Force navigator and instructor, to become the next U.S. Air Force secretary.
Trump stated that Meink currently serves as principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the agency responsible for building and launching America’s intelligence satellites.
He joined the Air Force through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at South Dakota State University in 1998 and served as a navigator on the KC-135 tanker. The South Dakota native also held the role of lead test engineer for ballistic missile test vehicles.
“Troy will work with our incredible Secretary of Defense Nominee, Pete Hegseth, to ensure that our Nation’s Air Force is the most effective and deadly force in the World, as we secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH,” the president-elect stated in a Truth Social post.
During his time at the Department of the Air Force, Meink served as the undersecretary of the Air Force for space, as well as the director and executive agent for space staff in Washington. He also held the position of assistant director of national intelligence for systems and resource analysis, according to the NRO’s website.
His role at the NRO included managing a budget of more than $15 billion for the acquisition of national geospatial intelligence satellite systems, the agency stated.
According to his biography on the Air Force’s website, Meink completed 100 sorties supporting operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Provide Comfort. He built and operated two experimental aircraft, and authored 20 articles that were published in professional journals and conference publications.
If confirmed by the Senate, Meink will succeed Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, who has held the position since 2021. Kendall delivered his farewell address on Jan. 16.
“I think I have started us on the right path,” Kendall said in his farewell address. “If I’m still around in 20 years, what I would really love to see is that we kept on that path.”
Kendall outlined security challenges in the “Department of the Air Force in 2050” report, published in December 2024, with a particular focus on threats posed by China. The report projected that space would become the “decisive domain” for most military operations by 2050.
“China is doing everything it can to exploit the opportunities that emerging technologies are providing to field forces designed to defeat the United States in the Western Pacific, especially in space and in the air,” the report stated. “By 2050, if not well before, the Air Force and Space Force will not be competitive unless we make substantial improvements in how these forces are equipped, trained, and operate.”