Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink testifies at a Senate Armed Services Committee on May 20, 2025. Meink was overwhelmingly confirmed by Senators a week earlier. U.S. AIR FORCE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The United States Senate easily confirmed Troy Meink as the secretary of the United States Air Force on May 13, putting a former KC-135 tanker aircraft navigator and space expert in charge of the service. 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
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. His confirmation comes as the U.S. is working to reshape the nation’s space capabilities, including the development of the Golden Dome for America missile defense system.
Trump ordered the futuristic system during his first week in office. If successful, it would be the first time the U.S. placed weapons in space that are meant to destroy ground-based missiles within seconds of launch. Many countries, including China, North Korea, Russia and the U.S., are developing new ways to disable the tens of thousands of satellites that ring the Earth 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.