Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics)

The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) (SAF/AQ) is a civilian position in the Department of the Air Force that is appointed by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. This position is established under Title 10 US Code Section 9016 and is one of five Assistant Secretary positions under the Secretary of the Air Force. The Assistant Secretary reports to the Secretary of the Air Force.

Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisitions, Technology, and Logistics)
Seal of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisitions, Technology, and Logistics
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force flag
Incumbent Andrew P. Hunter since February 7, 2022
Department of the Air Force
Style	The Honorable
Reports to	Secretary of the Air Force
Seat	The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, United States
Nominator	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	10 U.S.C. § 9016
Formation	1987
Succession	18th in SecDef succession by seniority of appointment
Deputy	Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Principal Military Deputy for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level IV
Website	ww3.safaq.hq.af.mil

Under the law a Principal Military Deputy serves with the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. The Principal Military Deputy is required to be an active duty officer with a background in acquisition and program management. If the Assistant Secretary position is vacant the law permits the Principal Military Deputy to serve up to a year as the Acting Assistant Secretary. Of the five Assistant Secretary positions established by law, only the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition is required to have a Principal Military Deputy.^[1]

Before Andrew Hunter, Darlene Costello served as acting Assistant Secretary for the second time. During the Obama and Trump administrations, Costello served as acting Assistant Secretary, from February 2016 to February 2018.^[2] In 2018, Will Roper was confirmed to the role, serving from February 2018 to January 2021.^[3] Despite Roper's requests to the Biden transition to be retained in the position in the new administration, his efforts went unheeded, and he resigned on January 20 as is custom.^[4] Upon his departure, Darlene Costello again became acting Assistant Secretary until a new Secretary is appointed. With 3 years in the role as of January 2022, Costello's service as SAF/AQ, spanning three presidencies and four Secretaries of the Air Force, ranks among the longest in the history of the position, despite never being confirmed by the Senate.

On July 16, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Andrew Hunter, a defense industry/acquisition researcher and former Pentagon official,^[5] for the position, and Hunter was confirmed by the Senate on February 2, 2022.^[6] Hunter was formerly a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' International Security Program and director of CSIS' Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group.^[5]

Responsibilities

The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition serves as the single service acquisition executive (SAE) and the Senior Procurement Executive for the Department of the Air Force. They are responsible for acquisition and product support for all Air Force acquisition programs and manages the Air Force science and technology program.^[7]

They provides direction, guidance and supervision of all matters pertaining to the formulation, review, approval and execution of acquisition plans, policies and programs. The Assistant Secretary oversees $40 billion annual investments that include major programs like the KC-46A Pegasus, F-35 Lighting II, B-21 Raider,^[2] as well as capability areas such as information technology and command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems.

History

The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition position was created in 1987 by National Security Decision Directive 219, following recommendations from President Reagan's Blue Ribbon Commission on Defense Management. The Commission recommended the Department of Defense have clear lines of authority for acquisition management and outlined roles and responsibilities between the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the military departments. This move established the Defense Acquisition Executive, the Service Acquisition Executives for each military department, Program Executive Officers who manage execution for a portfolio of programs.

Prior to 1987, similar duties and responsibilities now carried out by the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition were performed by offices in the Headquarters Secretariat with the following names and dates:

Assistant Secretary for Material - May 1951 to February 1964

Special Assistant for Research and Development - September 1950-February 1955

Assistant Secretary for Research and Development - March 1955 to May 1977

Assistant Secretary for Research, Development and Logistics - May 1977-April 1987^[8]

Assistant Secretaries of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics)

No.	Portrait	Name	Assumed office	Left office	President appointed by	Secretary served under
1		John J. Martin[8]	May 1977	May 1979	Jimmy Carter	John C. Stetson
2		Robert J. Hermann[9]	July 1979	August 1981[10]	Jimmy Carter	Hans Mark
3		Alton G. Keel, Jr.[11]	July 30, 1981[12]	1982	Ronald Reagan	Verne Orr
4		Thomas E. Cooper[13]	January 1983	April 1987	Ronald Reagan	Verne Orr Russell A. Rourke Edward C. Aldridge, Jr.
		Daniel S. Rak (Acting)	April 1987	October 1987	Ronald Reagan	Edward C. Aldridge, Jr.
5		John J. Welch, Jr.[14]	October 1987	April 1992	Ronald Reagan	Edward C. Aldridge, Jr. Donald Rice
6		G. Kim Wincup[15]	May 1992	December 1992	George H. W. Bush	Donald Rice
		Darleen A. Druyun (Acting)	January 1993	May 1994	William J. Clinton	Michael B. Donley
7		Clark G. Fiester[16]	May 1994	April 17, 1995	William J. Clinton	Sheila Widnall
		Darleen A. Druyun (Acting)	April 17, 1995	January 26, 1996	William J. Clinton	Sheila Widnall
8		Arthur L. Money[17]	January 26, 1996	February 1998[18]	William J. Clinton	Sheila Widnall F. Whitten Peters
9		Lawrence J. Delaney[19]	April 29, 1999[20]	January 20, 2001	William J. Clinton	F. Whitten Peters
10		Marvin R. Sambur[21]	November 8, 2001[22]	January 2005	George W. Bush	James G. Roche
11		Sue C. Payton[23]	July 21, 2006[24]	January 20, 2009	George W. Bush	Michael Wynne Michael B. Donley
		David M. Van Buren[25] (Acting)	January 20, 2009	March 2012	Barack Obama	Michael B. Donley
12		William A. LaPlante, Jr.[26]	February 12, 2014	November 2015[27]	Barack Obama	Deborah Lee James
		Richard W. Lombardi (Acting)	November 2015	February 2016	Barack Obama	Deborah Lee James
		Darlene J. Costello (Acting)	February 2016	February 1, 2018	Barack Obama	Deborah Lee James
					Donald Trump	Heather Wilson
13		William B. Roper, Jr.	February 1, 2018	January 20, 2021	Donald Trump	Heather Wilson Barbara Barrett
		Darlene J. Costello (Acting)	January 20, 2021	February 7, 2022	Joe Biden	John P. Roth Frank Kendall III
14		Andrew Hunter	February 7, 2022	Incumbent	Joe Biden	Frank Kendall III

References

1. 10 U.S.C. § 9016(b)(4)(b).
2. "Darlene Costello Biography". www.af.mil. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
3. "Dr. Will Roper Biography". U.S. Air Force. Retrieved 2018-03-24.
4. Weisgerber, Marcus (January 5, 2021). "Roper Makes His Pitch To Biden Team: 'I Want to Be Part of the China fight'". Defense One. Archived from the original on 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
5. "President Biden Announces Seven Key Nominations" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: White House. July 16, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
6. Sheehey, Maeve (July 16, 2021). "Former Sen. Tom Udall is Biden's pick as ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa". POLITICO. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
7. "Headquarters Air Force Mission Directive 1-10" (PDF). www.e-publishing.af.mil/. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
8. Benson, Lawrence (1997). Acquisition Management in the United States Air Force and its Predecessors. US Government Printing Office. p. 55.
9. services, united states. congress. senate. committee on armed. "Image 25 of Nominations of Hans M. Mark, Antonia H. Chayes, Robert Jay Hermann, and John Howard Moxley III : hearing before the Committee on Armed Services, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session ... July 13, 1979". The Library of Congress. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
10. Directors at the National Reconnaissance Office at Fifty Years (PDF). Center for the Study of National Reconnaissance. 2011. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
11. Nomination of Thomas Edward Cooper To Be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Dec. 15, 1982. Note: Keel held the title "Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Research, Development, and Logistics)"
12. "PN528 - Nomination of Alton Gold Keel Jr. for Department of Defense, 97th Congress (1981-1982)". www.congress.gov. 1981-07-30. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
13. Nomination of Thomas Edward Cooper To Be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Dec. 15, 1982. Cooper was initially appointed "Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Research, Development, and Logistics)". The title changed in the course of Cooper's tenure in office.
14. George Bush: Continuation of John J. Welch, Jr., as an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Aug. 9, 1989
15. Wincup bio Archived 2011-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
16. "Clinton nomination". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
17. "PN695 - Nomination of Arthur L. Money for Department of Defense, 104th Congress (1995-1996)". www.congress.gov. 1996-01-26. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
18. "Honorable Arthur L. Money, Senior Fellow". www.potomacinstitute.org. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
19. "Air Force Biography". Archived from the original on April 1, 2001. Retrieved 2017-05-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
20. "PN117 — Lawrence J. Delaney — Department of Defense". congress.gov.
21. Archived biography
22. "PN821 — Marvin R. Sambur — Department of Defense". congress.gov.
23. Payton Bio from Air Force
24. "PN1473 — Sue C. Payton — Department of Defense". congress.gov.
25. "Van Buren bio". Archived from the original on 2011-02-02.
26. "LaPlante bio". Archived from the original on 2014-05-02.
27. "Air Force acquisition lead moves to MITRE".

• John J. Martin, Robert J. Hermann, Alton G. Keel, Martin F. Chen and Thomas E. Cooper all held the title "Assistant Secretary (Research, Development, and Logistics)." Daniel Rak was the first Acting Assistant Secretary (Acquisition).

External links

• Air Force Acquisition website