The United States on Wednesday confirmed Ravi Chaudhary, an Indian-American, as the Assistant Secretary of Air Force for Energy, Installations, and the Environment
Chaudhary won the mandate with a vote of 65-29, making him one of the top civilian leaders in the Pentagon. Chaudhary will be the first Indian-American to serve as an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force
Chaudhary previously served as a Senior Executive at the US Department of Transportation. He was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
During his service in the US Air Force from 1993 to 2015, Chaudhary completed a variety of operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments
As a C-17 pilot, he conducted global flight operations, including numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as ground deployment as the director of the personnel recovery centre at multi-national corps in Iraq, as per PTI
Being a flight test engineer, Chaudhary was responsible for flight certification of military avionics and hardware for the force's modernisation programs supporting flight safety
In his early stages, Chaudhary supported space launch operations for the global positioning system (GPS) and led third-stage and flight safety activities to ensure the full operational capability of the first GPS constellation
Ravi Chaudhary holds a Doctorate, specialising in executive leadership and Innovation from the Georgetown University D.L.S. Program, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from St. Mary's University as a NASA graduate fellow, an M.A. in Operational Arts and Military Science from Air University, and a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy
As the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Installations, and the Environment, Chaudhary will be responsible for the Air Force's sustainability and operational readiness. This includes developing installations and basing strategies, as well as ensuring the quality of military housing