United States Secretary of the Air Force

Not to be confused with Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force.

The secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the secretary of the Department of the Air Force,^[1] (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. The secretary of the Air Force is a civilian appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.^[2] The secretary reports to the secretary of defense and/or the deputy secretary of defense, and is by statute responsible for and has the authority to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Air Force.^[2][3]

United States Secretary of the Air Force
Seal of the Department of the Air Force
Flag of the secretary
Incumbent Gary A. Ashworth Acting  since January 20, 2025
Department of the Air Force
Style	Mr. Secretary The Honorable (formal address in writing)
Reports to	Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense
Appointer	The President with the advice and consent of the Senate
Term length	No fixed term
Precursor	Secretary of War
Inaugural holder	Stuart Symington
Formation	September 18, 1947; 77 years ago (1947-09-18)
Succession	3rd in SecDef succession
Deputy	The Under Secretary (principal civilian deputy) The Chief of Staff (military deputy) The Chief of Space Operations (military deputy)
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level II
Website	Office of the Secretary

The secretary works closely with their civilian deputy, the under secretary of the Air Force; and their military deputies, the chief of staff of the Air Force and the chief of space operations.

The first secretary of the Air Force, Stuart Symington, was sworn in on September 18, 1947, upon the split and re-organization of the Department of War and Army Air Forces into an air military department and a military service of its own, with the enactment of the National Security Act.

Responsibilities

Stuart Symington is sworn-in as the first Secretary of the Air Force by Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson on September 18, 1947.

The secretary is the head of the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Air Force is defined as a Military Department.^[4] It is not limited to the Washington headquarters staffs, rather it is an entity which includes all the components of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, including their reserve components:

The term 'department', when used with respect to a military department, means the executive part of the department and all field headquarters, forces, reserve components, installations, activities, and functions under the control or supervision of the Secretary of the department.^[5]

The exclusive responsibilities of the secretary of the Air Force are enumerated in 10 U.S.C. § 9013(b) of the United States Code. They include, but are not limited to:

(1) Recruiting.
(2) Organizing.
(3) Supplying.
(4) Equipping (including research and development).
(5) Training.
(6) Servicing.
(7) Mobilizing.
(8) Demobilizing.
(9) Administering (including the morale and welfare of personnel).
(10) Maintaining.
(11) The construction, outfitting, and repair of military equipment.

(12) The construction, maintenance, and repair of buildings, structures, and utilities and the acquisition of real property and interests in real property necessary to carry out the responsibilities specified in this section.^[3]

By direction of the secretary of defense, the secretary of the Air Force assigns military units of the Air Force and Space Force, other than those who carry out the functions listed in 10 U.S.C. § 9013(b), to the Unified and Specified Combatant Commands to perform missions assigned to those commands. Air Force and Space Force units while assigned to Combatant Commands may only be reassigned by authority of the secretary of defense.^[6]

However, the chain of command for Air Force and Space Force units for other purposes than the operational direction goes from the president to the secretary of defense to the secretary of the Air Force to the commanders of Air Force and Space Force Commands.^[7] Air Force and Space Force officers have to report on any matter to the secretary, or the secretary's designate, when requested. The secretary has the authority to detail, prescribe the duties, and to assign Air Force and Space Force service members and civilian employees, and may also change the title of any activity not statutorily designated.^[8] The secretary has several responsibilities under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) with respect to Air Force and Space Force service members, including the authority to convene general courts martial and to commute sentences.

The secretary of the Air Force may also be assigned additional responsibilities by the president or the secretary of defense,^[9] e.g. the secretary is designated as the "DoD Executive Agent for Space", and as such:

... shall develop, coordinate, and integrate plans and programs for space systems and the acquisition of DoD Space Major Defense Acquisition Programs to provide operational space force capabilities to ensure the United States has the space power to achieve its national security objectives.^[10][11]

Office of the Secretary of the Air Force

Office of the Secretary of the Air Force

Agency overview
Formed	1947
Headquarters	Pentagon
Parent agency	Department of the Air Force

Secretary of the Air Force Verne Orr with Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff General David C. Jones and Air Force Chief of Staff General Lew Allen and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff General Robert C. Mathis at Bolling Air Force Base on May 28, 1982

The secretary of the Air Force's principal staff element, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, has responsibility for acquisition and auditing, comptroller issues (including financial management), inspector general matters, legislative affairs, and public affairs within the Department of the Air Force. The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force is one of the Department of the Air Force's three headquarter staffs at the seat of government, with the others being the Air Staff and the Office of the Chief of Space Operations.

Composition

The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force is composed of:

• Under Secretary of the Air Force
  • The Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs
  • The Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space Programs
• Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
• Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller
• Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Energy
• Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs
• Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space Acquisition and Integration^[12]
• General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force
• Inspector General of the Air Force
• Chief of Legislative Liaison
• Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force
• Auditor General of the Department of the Air Force
• Air Reserve Forces Policy Committee

List of secretaries of the Air Force

No.	Image	Name	Start	End	Duration	President(s)
1		Stuart Symington	September 18, 1947	April 24, 1950	2 years, 218 days		Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
2		Thomas K. Finletter	April 24, 1950	January 20, 1953	2 years, 271 days
3		Harold E. Talbott	February 4, 1953	August 13, 1955	2 years, 190 days		Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)
4		Donald A. Quarles	August 15, 1955	April 30, 1957	1 year, 258 days
5		James H. Douglas Jr.	May 1, 1957	December 10, 1959	2 years, 223 days
6		Dudley C. Sharp	December 11, 1959	January 20, 1961	1 year, 40 days
7		Eugene M. Zuckert	January 24, 1961	September 30, 1965	4 years, 249 days		John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
							Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)
8		Harold Brown	October 1, 1965	February 15, 1969	3 years, 137 days
							Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
9		Robert C. Seamans Jr.	February 15, 1969	May 15, 1973	4 years, 89 days
10		John L. McLucas	May 15, 1973	July 18, 1973	2 years, 192 days
			July 18, 1973	November 23, 1975
							Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
11		Thomas C. Reed	January 2, 1976	April 6, 1977	1 year, 94 days
							Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
12		John C. Stetson	April 6, 1977	May 18, 1979	2 years, 42 days
13		Hans Mark	May 18, 1979	July 26, 1979	1 year, 267 days
			July 26, 1979	February 9, 1981
							Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
14		Verne Orr	February 9, 1981	November 30, 1985	4 years, 294 days
15		Russell A. Rourke	December 9, 1985	April 6, 1986	118 days
16		Edward C. Aldridge Jr.	April 6, 1986	June 8, 1986	2 years, 254 days
			June 9, 1986	December 16, 1988
–		James F. McGovern	December 16, 1988	April 29, 1989	134 days
							George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
–		John J. Welch Jr.	April 29, 1989	May 21, 1989	22 days
17		Donald B. Rice	May 21, 1989	January 20, 1993	3 years, 244 days
–		Michael B. Donley Acting	January 20, 1993	July 13, 1993	174 days		Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
–		Merrill A. McPeak Acting	July 14, 1993	August 5, 1993	22 days
18		Sheila Widnall	August 6, 1993	October 31, 1997	4 years, 86 days
19		F. Whitten Peters	November 1, 1997	July 30, 1999	3 years, 80 days
			July 30, 1999	January 20, 2001
–		Lawrence J. Delaney Acting	January 21, 2001	May 31, 2001	130 days		George W. Bush (2001–2009)
20		James G. Roche	June 1, 2001	January 20, 2005	3 years, 233 days
–		Peter B. Teets Acting	January 20, 2005	March 25, 2005	64 days
–		Michael Montelongo Acting	March 25, 2005	March 28, 2005	3 days
–		Michael L. Dominguez Acting	March 28, 2005	July 29, 2005	123 days
–		Pete Geren Acting[13]	July 29, 2005	November 4, 2005	98 days
21		Michael Wynne[14]	November 4, 2005	June 20, 2008	2 years, 229 days
22		Michael B. Donley	June 21, 2008	October 2, 2008	5 years, 0 days
			October 2, 2008	June 21, 2013
							Barack Obama (2009–2017)
–		Eric Fanning Acting	June 21, 2013	December 20, 2013	182 days
23		Deborah Lee James	December 20, 2013	January 20, 2017	3 years, 31 days
–		Lisa Disbrow Acting	January 20, 2017	May 16, 2017	116 days		Donald Trump (2017–2021)
24		Heather Wilson	May 16, 2017	May 31, 2019	2 years, 15 days
–		Matthew Donovan Acting	June 1, 2019	October 18, 2019	139 days
25		Barbara Barrett	October 18, 2019	January 20, 2021	1 year, 94 days
–		John P. Roth Acting	January 20, 2021	July 28, 2021	189 days		Joe Biden (2021–2025)
26		Frank Kendall III	July 28, 2021	January 20, 2025	3 years, 176 days
–		Gary A. Ashworth Acting	January 20, 2025	Incumbent	112 days		Donald Trump (2025–present)

See also

• Department of the Air Force Decoration for Exceptional Civilian Service

References

• Title 10 United States Code
  • Subtitle A – General Military Law
    • CHAPTER 1 – DEFINITIONS
      • § 101. Definitions
    • CHAPTER 6 – COMBATANT COMMANDERS
      • § 162. Combatant command: assigned forces; chain of command
  • Subtitle D – Air Force
    • CHAPTER 903 – DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
      • § 9011. Organization
      • § 9013. Secretary of the Air Force
      • § 9014. Office of the Secretary of the Air Force
      • § 9015. Under Secretary of the Air Force
    • CHAPTER 905 – THE AIR STAFF
      • § 9032. The Air Staff: general duties
      • § 9033. Chief of Staff
• Executive Order 12909, Order of Succession of Officers To Act as Secretary of the Air Force
• Department of Defense Directive (DODD) 5100.1, Functions of the Department of Defense and Its Major Components, August 1 2002.
• Department of Defense Directive (DODD) 5101.2, DoD Executive Agent for Space, June 3 2003.