Troy Meink

Troy E. Meink is an American politician who has been the 27th United States Secretary of the Air Force since 2025. He was the principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from 2020 until 2025 during the first Trump administration and the Biden administration. 

Early life
Meink was born in Lemmon, South Dakota. He studied at South Dakota State University. He later went to Ohio State University.

Political career
Meink was director in the office of the assistant secretary of defense for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from 2006 to 2013.

Meink then was the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space from November 2013 to June 2014. 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. In October 2020, he was appointed the principal deputy director of the NRO by President Donald Trump.

U.S. Secretary of the Air Force
On January 16, 2025, President-elect Donald Trump announced Meink as the nominee to serve as United States Secretary of the Air Force. His pick was supported by businessman and presidential advisor Elon Musk. 

His nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a 74–25 vote on May 13, 2025. He was sworn in three days later on May 16, 2025.

References

Category:Living people
Category:Military people from South Dakota
Category:Politicians from South Dakota
Category:United States Secretaries of the Air Force