The US Senate has confirmed the name of Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary for the post of Assistant Secretary of Defense of the Air Force. The post is one of the top positions in the Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense.
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed the nomination of Chaudhary, a former Air Force officer, by a vote of 65 to 29. These 65 votes include more than 12 votes from the opposition Republican Party.
Chaudhary previously served as a senior executive in the US Department of Transportation, where he was the director of Advanced Programs and Innovation in the Office of Commercial Space at the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). He oversaw the advanced development and research programs for the FAA’s commercial space transportation missions.
During his service in the US Air Force from 1993 to 2015, Chaudhary completed a variety of missions. As a C-17 pilot, he flew global missions including multiple combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He was also posted as the Director of the Personnel ‘Recovery Center’ in the Multi-National Corps in Iraq. Chaudhary holds a Doctorate from Georgetown University DLS specializing in Executive Leadership and Innovation. He is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute.
