Latest news with #Meink
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
U.S. Air Force Academy announces commencement speaker for graduation
(U.S AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.) — The U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) announced its commencement speaker for the Academy's Graduation Ceremony on Thursday, May 29. Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink has been announced as the commencement speaker for the graduation that will occur at Falcon Stadium. Meink became the 27th Secretary of the Air Force on May 16, 2025. He is the Air Force's highest-ranking civilian leader, and advisor to the Secretary of Defense for air and space operations. 2025 U.S. Air Force Academy graduation: What you need to know Meink began his journey in the Air Force in 1988, and served as a KC-135, a Tanker Navigator and Instructor completing over 100 sorties in support of multiple combat and humanitarian operations. Then, as a lead test engineer for ballistic missile test vehicles for the Missile Defense Agency. Meink also led communication teams within the Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office as an Air Force civilian. His last assignment prior to being sworn as the Secretary of the Air Force was as the NRO's Principal Deputy Director. Graduation will take place on Thursday. The ceremony is open to ticket-holding members of the public for in-person attendance. USAFA's graduation will also be livestreamed online. Gates will open at 6 a.m., and the ceremony begins at 9 a.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Plans To Modify Qatari 747 Into Air Force One Now Being Drawn Up By USAF
The U.S. Air Force is now actively exploring what it would take to turn an already heavily-modified 747-8i airliner from Qatar into a platform that can meet extremely stringent requirements to serve in the Air Force One role. President Donald Trump's administration confirmed earlier this month that it has been in talks with Qatari authorities about receiving the jet, which has been valued at roughly $400 million, ostensibly as a gift. TWZ has already highlighted serious questions about the feasibility of converting the Qatari jet into an 'interim' Air Force One, especially before the end of Trump's second term in 2029, as you can read more about here. Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink, who was sworn in just on May 16, and Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force Gen. David Allvin answered questions about the potential of turning the Qatari 747-8i into an Air Force One presidential aircraft from members of the Senate Armed Services Committee today. 'As you know, any platform used for presidential travel must be fully secure, survivable – and this is the important part – capable of supporting uninterrupted command and control under the most demanding conditions, including in the event of a nuclear crisis,' Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, said in the lead-in to a question for Meink and Allvin about the proposed conversion. 'This isn't just about ensuring presidential protection, though that is very important. This is about our national security and protecting all Americans from the dangers posed if the President's sensitive communications are intercepted, or if he is out of contact, God forbid, with our nation's military during a crisis.' 'Secretary Meink, General Allvin, do you concur that the upgrades required for a foreign-provided plane to meet the operational security standards of Air Force One would be significant?' she asked. 'So, the Secretary of Defense [Pete Hegseth] has directed the Air Force to basically start planning to modify the aircraft,' Secretary Meink said in response to a question from Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat. 'We will have to look at all of those issues you just addressed in those modifications.' Gen. Allvin responded that he was in alignment with Secretary Meink's position. 'Any civilian aircraft will take significant modifications to' to turn it into a suitable Air Force One, Meink after further questioning. 'As I said, we're asked, based on [the Defense] Secretary's direction, we are postured, and we're off looking at that right now, what it's going to take for that particular aircraft.' It is worth noting that Boeing is already in the process of converting two other 747-8is originally built as commercial airliners into new VC-25B Air Force One aircraft. However, those aircraft were never delivered to their intended customer and are not as heavily modified to start as the Qatari 747-8i in question. Boeing stopped producing 747s entirely in 2022. Work on the VC-25Bs has been repeatedly delayed, which has been a key contributing factor in the emergence of the general idea of an 'interim' Air Force One since Trump took office in January. Sen. Duckworth also raised concerns 'that requirements have been loosened' to try to accelerate work on VC-25Bs. Secretary Meink said he was unaware of any such changes to the Air Force One requirements, but noted he has only been in his current post since last week. There are certainly differences in the requirements for the VC-25Bs compared to the existing VC-25A Air Force One jets, which are based on older 747-200 aircraft. Most notably, the replacement presidential planes will not be able to refuel in flight, at least as far as is currently known, something that was previously seen as a vital feature, especially in the event of a severe contingency. 'Do I have your commitment that you would advise the President not to reduce any requirements that will lower operational security for any aircraft to be used as Air Force One?' Duckworth asked Meink. 'I will be quite clear and discuss that with Secretary [of Defense], up to the President if necessary, if we feel there's any threats that we are unable to address,' Meink said. As TWZ has already noted, converting any aircraft into one that is secure enough to provide safe transport for the President of the United States, as well as allow for constant communication, including if they need to order a nuclear strike, is an extremely complex process. The aircraft has to be physically hardened inside and out against a plethora of threats, from the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear weapon going off to incoming surface-to-air missiles to enemy intelligence-gathering efforts. This, in turn, requires significant modifications right down to the aircraft's core structure. As is highlighted by the tight controls around sourcing spares for the existing VC-25As, there are specific processes around vetting individual parts to protect against espionage and sabotage. There is the possibility that the Qatari 747-8i could end up being used as a source of spare parts for the future VC-25Bs, as well as the 747-based E-4C Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC) strategic command post aircraft the Air Force is also acquiring. Whether the Qatari 'gift' of the 747-8i to the Trump Administration even goes through in the end remains to be seen, given a host of additional legal and ethical hurdles and concerns. At the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing just today, Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, asked Secretary Meink and Gen. Allvin about whether they were aware of a request from Qatar to buy F-35 Joint Strike Fighters and implied the possibility of a quid pro quo exchange. Meink took the question for the record to respond to later. CNN did also report yesterday, citing anonymous sources, that President Trump's administration had reached out to Qatar first about acquiring the 747-8i before the government in Doha had proposed offering it as a gift. Whatever the case, the Air Force is now at least looking into what specifically would be needed to turn the Qatari royal jet into a new Air Force One. Contact the author: joe@
Arab Times
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
US Senate confirms Meink, former air crewman and space expert, as new Air Force secretary
WASHINGTON, May 14, (AP): The Senate on Tuesday easily confirmed Troy Meink as the secretary of the Air Force, putting a former KC-135 tanker aircraft navigator and space expert in charge of the service. The vote was 74-25. Meink has almost four decades of experience in the military and in government, including managing some of the nation's most sensitive satellite intelligence capabilities and the military's space portfolio. He previously served as a deputy of the National Reconnaissance Office. While he is the last of the military's three service secretaries to get confirmed, Meink is the one with the most extensive national security and military experience. "Your leadership is exactly what we need to refocus the Department of Defense on its core mission-lethality, readiness, and putting the warfighter first,' said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll served a short stint in the Army, but worked largely as a lawyer and investment banker. Navy Secretary John Phelan had been a private investment executive and businessman, and is the first leader of the sea service since 2006 not to have been a veteran. Meink assumes control of both the Air Force and US Space Force, which was established by President Donald Trump during his first term and just hit its fifth year in existence. And his confirmation comes as the Trump administration is working to reshape the nation's space capabilities, including the development of the "Golden Dome' missile defense system. The futuristic system was ordered by Trump during his first week in office. If successful, it would for the first time enable the US to place weapons in space that are meant to destroy ground-based missiles within seconds of launch. any countries, including Russia, China, North Korea and the US, are developing new ways to disable of defend the tens of thousands of satellites that ring the Earth as a way to cripple a potential adversary without fighting a traditional land-based war. Meink is from Lemmon, South Dakota, and joined the Air Force as an ROTC cadet at South Dakota State University in 1988. In his previous position at the National Reconnaissance Office, Meink oversaw a more than $15 billion budget to acquire new satellite capabilities.
14-05-2025
- Politics
Senate confirms Troy Meink, former air crewman and space expert, as the new Air Force secretary
WASHINGTON -- The Senate on Tuesday easily confirmed Troy Meink as the secretary of the Air Force, putting a former KC-135 tanker aircraft navigator and space expert in charge of the service. The vote was 74-25. Meink has almost four decades of experience in the military and in government, including managing some of the nation's most sensitive satellite intelligence capabilities and the military's space portfolio. He previously served as a deputy of the National Reconnaissance Office. While he is the last of the military's three service secretaries to get confirmed, Meink is the one with the most extensive national security and military experience. 'Your leadership is exactly what we need to refocus the Department of Defense on its core mission—lethality, readiness, and putting the warfighter first,' said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll served a short stint in the Army, but worked largely as a lawyer and investment banker. Navy Secretary John Phelan had been a private investment executive and businessman, and is the first leader of the sea service since 2006 not to have been a veteran. Meink assumes control of both the Air Force and U.S. Space Force, which was established by President Donald Trump during his first term and just hit its fifth year in existence. And his confirmation comes as the Trump administration is working to reshape the nation's space capabilities, including the development of the 'Golden Dome' missile defense system. The futuristic system was ordered by Trump during his first week in office. If successful, it would for the first time enable the U.S. to place weapons in space that are meant to destroy ground-based missiles within seconds of launch. Many countries, including Russia, China, North Korea and the U.S., are developing new ways to disable of defend the tens of thousands of satellites that ring the Earth as a way to cripple a potential adversary without fighting a traditional land-based war. Meink is from Lemmon, South Dakota, and joined the Air Force as an ROTC cadet at South Dakota State University in 1988. In his previous position at the National Reconnaissance Office, Meink oversaw a more than $15 billion budget to acquire new satellite capabilities.
Hamilton Spectator
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Senate confirms Troy Meink, former air crewman and space expert, as the new Air Force secretary
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday easily confirmed Troy Meink as the secretary of the Air Force, putting a former KC-135 tanker aircraft navigator and space expert in charge of the service. The vote was 74-25. Meink has almost four decades of experience in the military and in government, including managing some of the nation's most sensitive satellite intelligence capabilities and the military's space portfolio. He previously served as a deputy of the National Reconnaissance Office. While he is the last of the military's three service secretaries to get confirmed, Meink is the one with the most extensive national security and military experience. 'Your leadership is exactly what we need to refocus the Department of Defense on its core mission—lethality, readiness, and putting the warfighter first,' said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a social media post. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll served a short stint in the Army, but worked largely as a lawyer and investment banker. Navy Secretary John Phelan had been a private investment executive and businessman, and is the first leader of the sea service since 2006 not to have been a veteran. Meink assumes control of both the Air Force and U.S. Space Force, which was established by President Donald Trump during his first term and just hit its fifth year in existence. And his confirmation comes as the Trump administration is working to reshape the nation's space capabilities, including the development of the 'Golden Dome' missile defense system . The futuristic system was ordered by Trump during his first week in office. If successful, it would for the first time enable the U.S. to place weapons in space that are meant to destroy ground-based missiles within seconds of launch. Many countries, including Russia, China, North Korea and the U.S., are developing new ways to disable of defend the tens of thousands of satellites that ring the Earth as a way to cripple a potential adversary without fighting a traditional land-based war. Meink is from Lemmon, South Dakota, and joined the Air Force as an ROTC cadet at South Dakota State University in 1988. In his previous position at the National Reconnaissance Office, Meink oversaw a more than $15 billion budget to acquire new satellite capabilities.
