The US Senate has confirmed Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary as Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Air Force

On Wednesday, the US Senate approved the appointment of Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary to the top civilian leadership position in the Pentagon: Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Air Force.

With more than a dozen votes coming from the opposition Republican party, the Senate voted 65-29 to confirm the former Air Force officer’s candidature.

Prior to this, Chaudhary held the position of Senior Executive at the US Department of Transportation, where he was the Office of Commercial Space’s Director of Advanced Projects and Innovation (FAA).

He was in charge of carrying out initiatives for cutting-edge research and development that supported the FAA’s goal of commercial space transportation. He oversaw the integration and support of aviation operations in nine regions while working for the transportation department as the executive director of the regions and centre operations.

From 1993 to 2015, Chaudhary served in the US Air Force, performing a variety of operational, engineering, and senior staff tasks. He flew multiple combat flights in Afghanistan and Iraq as a C-17 pilot while also serving as the director of the personnel recovery centre at a multinational corps in Iraq. He also deployed on the ground.

He oversaw the flight certification of military avionics and hardware for the force’s modernization programmes to ensure flight safety in his capacity as a flight test engineer.

Early in his career, he supported GPS space launch operations and oversaw third-stage and flight safety procedures to guarantee the first GPS constellation’s full operating capabilities.

As a systems engineer, Chaudhary assisted NASA with its protection efforts for the International Space Station to guarantee the safety of NASA Astronauts. Under the Obama Administration, he also participated in the President’s Advisory Committee on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. He provided advice to the president in this capacity regarding executive branch initiatives to strengthen veterans’ support.

As a NASA graduate fellow, Chaudhary earned his doctorate from Georgetown University’s D.L.S. programme with a focus on executive leadership and innovation. He also holds master’s degrees in industrial engineering from St. Mary’s University and Air University as well as 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. He holds Department of Defense acquisition credentials in programme management, test and evaluation, and systems engineering, and he is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute.