Frank Kendall
26th United States Secretary of the Air Force
Assumed office
July 28, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
DeputyGina Ortiz Jones
Kristyn E. Jones (acting)
Preceded byBarbara Barrett
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics
In office
October 6, 2011 – January 20, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byAsh Carter
Succeeded byEllen Lord
Personal details
Born (1949-01-26) January 26, 1949
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUnited States Military Academy (BS)
California Institute of Technology (MS)
Long Island University (MBA)
Georgetown University (JD)
Signature
Military service
Branch/serviceU.S. Army Reserve
RankLieutenant colonel

Frank Kendall III (born January 26, 1949) is an American engineer, lawyer and executive who is the 26th and current United States Secretary of the Air Force. He has served in several senior positions in the U.S. Department of Defense.[1] A West Point graduate (Class of 1971, Distinguished Graduate),[2] he retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve. From 2011 to 2017, Kendall served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics in the Obama Administration.[3][4][5][2] He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Early career

Kendall during his tenure as acting Deputy Director, 1989

Kendall began his career as a U.S. Army officer. After several assignments including postings to Germany and teaching engineering at West Point, he joined the civil service working as a systems engineer in missile defense. In 1986, he became the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Strategic Defense Systems as a member of the Senior Executive Service. From 1989 to 1994, he served as acting and then permanent Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering with responsibility for all U.S. conventional weapon systems research and development programs. After leaving government service in 1994, Kendall served as Corporate Vice President of Engineering at Raytheon and later as a consultant. During this period, Kendall acquired a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center and worked on a pro bono basis as a human rights attorney.[6] 

Obama Administration

In 2010 Kendall returned to government, first as Principal Under Secretary and then Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.[7]

During his tenure as Under Secretary, Kendall implemented policies that led to substantial improvements in the cost and schedule performance of the Defense Department's weapons acquisition programs.[8] In 2016, he was recognized as Person of the Year by Aviation Week and Space Technology for his cost control efforts.[9] In addition to the policy changes he initiated and executed under the "Better Buying Power" initiatives he directly oversaw over 50 of the largest defense weapons programs. Examples include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program where he froze production for two years to incentivize efforts to stabilize the design,[10] the GPS 3 ground system, OCX, where he led the effort to restructure and complete this troubled program.[11] He oversaw the initiation of the  development of the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber which is currently executing to plan.[12] He formulated and led the effort to acquire the Military Health System GENESIS (MHS GENESIS) program, modern healthcare management system that has been adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs as well as the Defense Department.[13][14] Kendall led the effort to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan[15][16][17] with rapid acquisition programs and he led the effort to remove Syrian chemical weapons from that country and destroy them at sea.[18] Kendall was a major sponsor for innovation,[19] launching the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency led Aerospace Innovation Initiative.[20] He raised alarms about Chinese military modernization and the threat it posed to U.S. conventional military superiority.[21] While in office he authored the articles on defense acquisition that he compiled in his book "Getting Defense Acquisition Right".[22]

Biden Administration

Kendall is sworn in as the 26th secretary of the Air Force by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., August 4, 2021.

On April 27, 2021, President Joe Biden announced Kendall as his nominee to be the 26th Secretary of the Air Force.[23] His Senate confirmation occurred after almost three months of deliberation, due to holds by Senators Mike Lee,[24] Gary Peters[25] and Elizabeth Warren,[26] the latter of whom released her hold after Kendall agreed to extend his post-governmental recusal agreements from two to four years.[26] Kendall was eventually confirmed by voice vote on June 26, 2021,[27][28] administratively sworn in on July 28, 2021[29] and ceremonially sworn in by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on August 4, 2021.[30]

References

  1. ↑ Cohen, Joe Gould, Rachel (July 27, 2021). "Kendall confirmed as Air Force secretary after senators lift procedural holds". Defense News. Retrieved July 27, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. 1 2 "Frank Kendall - Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics". United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  3. ↑ S. HRG. 112–745 (112th Congress, 2012).
  4. ↑ "Senator Lifts Holds on Most Nominees". The New York Times. February 9, 2010. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  5. ↑ "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. July 30, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009 – via National Archives.
  6. ↑ "Report from Guantanamo: military commissions a failure in progress". University of Pittsburgh. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Frank Kendall > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Biography". www.defense.gov. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Better Buying Power 3.0 Stresses Innovation, Affordability". U.S. Department Of Defense. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  9. ↑ Network, Aviation Week. "Aviation Week Network Announces 2017 Program Excellence Awards Winners". PR Newswire (Press release). Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  10. ↑ "US Weapons Man: F-35 Fighter Plan Was 'Acquisition Malpractice'". ABC News. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Kendall Says Recompeting OCX is a Possibility". SpaceNews. December 2, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  12. ↑ Hitchens, Theresa (June 4, 2015). "Kendall, LaPlante Complete Long Range Strike Bomber Review: EXCLUSIVE". Breaking Defense. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  13. ↑ "DoD Awards Contract for Electronic Health Records". U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  14. ↑ "VA Launches New Electronic Health Record Platform Amid a Pandemic, Wildfires and Citywide Power Outages". NextGov. October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  15. ↑ "Kendall USD ATL Frank 120108-F-AX764-004". Breaking Defense. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  16. ↑ "Q&A with Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics". Aerospace Industries Association. April 14, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  17. ↑ Acquisition, Defense (September 9, 2016). "Manufacturing Innovation and Technological Superiority". Medium. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  18. ↑ Steinhauer, Jennifer (January 2, 2014). "U.S. Military Ship Readied for Mission to Destroy Syria's Chemical Weapons (Published 2014)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  19. ↑ "First Chemical Weapons Leave Syria for Destruction at Sea". USNI News. January 7, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  20. ↑ ago | 01/28/2015, Megan Eckstein | 5 years (January 28, 2015). "Kendall Announced Aerospace Innovation Initiative to Support 6th-Generation Fighter Jet". Defense Daily. Retrieved October 26, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ Weisgerber, Marcus. "Slow and Steady is Losing the Defense Acquisition Race". Government Executive. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  22. ↑ Getting Defense Acquisition Right: The Honorable Frank Kendall. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. January 24, 2017. ISBN 978-1542730938.
  23. ↑ "President Biden Announces Key Administration Nominations in National Security". whitehouse.gov. April 26, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Senators Slow Down Kendall Confirmation". Association of Defense Communities. June 28, 2021.
  25. ↑ Burke, Melissa Nann (July 26, 2021). "Peters ends hold on Biden nominee after Air Force commits to Selfridge mission". Detroit News.
  26. 1 2 Mahshie, Abraham (July 13, 2021). "Warren Lifts Hold on Kendall Nomination After Ethics Agreement Extension". Air Force Magazine.
  27. ↑ "PN484 — Frank Kendall III — Department of Defense, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". U.S. Congress. July 26, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  28. ↑ Pope, Charles (July 26, 2021). "Senate confirms Kendall to be Air Force Secretary". U.S. Air Force. Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs.
  29. ↑ Staff Sgt. Nicolas Z. Erwin (July 28, 2021). "Kendall sworn in as 26th Secretary of the Air Force". U.S. Space Force. Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs.
  30. ↑ "SD swears in SECAF Kendall [Image 9 of 24]". DVIDS. August 4, 2021.
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