On Thursday, January 16, President-elect Donald Trump nominated Troy Meink, the Deputy Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), as the civilian head of the United States Air Force – the Air Force Secretary.
Meink has nearly 40 years of military and government service experience in the national security field, including managing the nation’s most sensitive satellite intelligence capabilities and military space portfolio.
Trump took to his social media platform, TruthSocial, to announce, “I am pleased to announce that Dr. Troy Meink will serve as the next Secretary of the United States Air Force.”
The National Reconnaissance Office, under the Department of Defense, is responsible for designing, assembling, and launching reconnaissance satellites for the government. Deputy Director Meink is a retired Air Force officer who has piloted refueling aircraft and later worked as a test engineer for missile defense systems.
Last May, the Pentagon warned that the United States must ramp up efforts to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s ambitions in space. Meink commented, “We are at a critical moment in history.”
He stated, “For the first time in decades, America’s leadership in space and space technology is being challenged, and our competitors are actively seeking ways to threaten our capabilities, we see this every day.”
In his post, Trump said, “Troy will work alongside our excellent nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, to ensure that our Air Force is the most effective and lethal force in the world, and to achieve the goal of ‘peace through strength’.”