Troy Edward Meink[1] (/mink/ MEENK) is an American government official who has served as the secretary of the Air Force since 2025.[2] He previously served as the principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
Meink is from Lemmon, South Dakota.[3] He attended South Dakota State University, where he received a degree in mechanical engineering in 1988.[4] He later attended Ohio State University, earning a master's degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering in 1995 and a doctorate in the field in 1999.[4]
Meink entered the United States Air Force in 1988 through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program at South Dakota State University.[5] He started his career as a KC-135 tanker navigator and instructor and then a lead test engineer for the design and evaluation of ballistic missile test vehicles for the Missile Defense Agency.[5] While a KC-135 tanker navigator, he was stationed at Grissom Air Force Base and served during the Gulf War in Iraq.[4]
Meink subsequently led development for the Military Satellite Communications Joint Program Office and served as program director for the Transformational Satellite Communications System.[5] He was a director in the office of the assistant secretary of defense and a director for signal intelligence systems acquisition for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from 2006 to 2013.[5]
Meink then served as the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space from November 2013 to June 2014.[5] Afterwards, he was assistant director of national intelligence for systems and resource analyses from 2014 to 2017, before becoming the director of Geospatial Intelligence Systems Acquisition at the NRO.[5] In October 2020, he was appointed the principal deputy director of the NRO by President Donald Trump.[6] In this position, he oversaw a budget of over $15 billion to develop satellite capabilities.[3]
On January 16, 2025, President-elect Trump announced Meink as the nominee to serve as United States Secretary of the Air Force.[3] Meink's appointment had been quietly encouraged by Elon Musk.[7] His nomination was confirmed by the Senate in a 74–25 vote on May 13,[8] and he was sworn in on May 16, 2025.[9]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
He is shaping not just policy but personnel decisions, including successfully pushing for Mr. Trump to pick Troy Meink as the Air Force secretary, according to three people with direct knowledge of his role.
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