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In a bipartisan vote of 75 to 25 the US Senate confirmed the Trump Adminstration choice for Secretary of the Air Force, Troy Meink. The local impact is his responsibility includes Holloman AFB in New Mexico, near Alamogordo.
Meink, who previously served as deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, will now take charge of the Air Force and Space Force. He has a deep background in acquisition and technology development specializing in space and also served as NRO’s director of signals intelligence systems acquisition.
His career at the Air Force has included service as deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space and, while at the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, stints as a program manager, senior research engineer and chief technical adviser. He served in the Air Force beginning in 1988 as a navigator on the KC-135 Stratotanker.
Meink will take over the Department of the Air Force at a time of significant transformation, as virtually all major portions of its aircraft fleet are in the process of modernizing. That includes overseeing the service’s planned sixth-generation fighter, dubbed the F-47, as prime contractor Boeing begins the complicated process of developing and then delivering a complex, advanced aircraft without breaking the bank.
The Air Force is also developing multiple versions of semiautonomous drone wingmen, known as collaborative combat aircraft, that will fly alongside the F-47, the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter and potentially other aircraft.
The service is in the midst of a major revamp of its bomber force as it brings on the Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider stealth bomber to replace the retiring B-1 and B-2 bombers. The Air Force eventually plans to have a two-bomber fleet made up of the B-21, alongside heavily revamped B-52J Stratofortresses.
And the Air Force is worried about its LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile. That program, which is to be built by Northrop Grumman, is planned to succeed the aging Minuteman III nuclear missile program, but higher-than-expected construction costs have forced the service to rethink its approach to Sentinel.
Meink’s acquisition background could help the service manage these multiple programs. His space expertise could also benefit the Space Force, whose missions are expanding and which has sought to grow its budget to handle them.
In his nomination hearing in March, Meink pledged to push for the Space Force to get the resources it needs, given the growing role it will likely play in future military actions
One key component to his selection was his views around the space force. “Space is going to be one of the determining factors” in a future conflict, Meink said. “We definitely need to get that right.”
More News from Alamogordo
- NMAA State Golf Championship Results Tigers Place 3rd The 2025 NMAA state golf championships wrapped up on Tuesday afternoon. The Alamogordo Boys finished 3rd and the Girls were T-5th at the 5A State Championships
- Washington Street Bridge Repair Plan In Progress to Soon Reopen 10th Street Washington Street Bridge on 10th Street is scheduled for a temporary repair effort on order to again open access.
