Frank Kendall III
Frank Kendall III (Army engineer, Lawyer) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | January 26, 1949 Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Citizenship | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alma mater | United States Military Academy, California Institute of Technology, Long Island University, Georgetown University Law Center | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Member of | Council on Foreign Relations/Members 2, Truman Center for National Policy, Truman National Security Project/Board | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Party | Democratic Party (United States) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Revolving door to between think tanks, armaments companies and defense procurement ($$$ to military-industrial complex)
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Frank Kendall III is an American engineer, lawyer and executive who is the 26th and current United States Secretary of the Air Force. He was 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 LTC from the U.S. Army Reserves. From 2011 to 2017, Kendall was the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics in the Obama Administration.[3]
Career
Kendall received his Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1971, his Master of Science degree from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, in 1972, and then was a United States army officer from June 1971 to June 1982. He was also stationed in Germany for a time. After his active time he completed regular reserve exercises until 1999 and reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.[4]
Revolving door career
From April 1986, Kendall worked in the Pentagon in the field of strategic and tactical defense weapons, most recently as Deputy Director. In 1994 he left the US military and went into private enterprise, as Vice President of Raytheon, an armaments company. He gave up this post in November 1996 and became a private consultant for ten years from 1997 to December 2007. During this time, he also earned an additional Doctor of Laws degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. in 2004. In 2008 he switched to a management consultancy, before starting March 2010 and working again for almost seven years at the Pentagon, this time in the “Procurement, Technology and Logistics” department. From May 2012 he held the title of Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.[4]
During Donald Trump's presidency, Kendall was a senior fellow for the Center for American Progress and as a member of the board of directors of the software company Leidos.[4] He was also Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[5]
Joe Biden proposed Kendall as the new Secretary of the Air Force on April 27, 2021.[3] On July 26, 2021, the Senate confirmed the nomination,[6] and Kendall took office on July 28, 2021 following his inauguration by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.[4]
References
- ↑ https://www.defensenews.com/congress/2021/07/26/kendall-confirmed-as-air-force-secretary-after-senators-lift-procedural-holds
- ↑ https://archive.today/20120729072339/http://www.defense.gov/bios/biographydetail.aspx?biographyid=248
- ↑ S. HRG. 112–745 (112th Congress, 2012).
- ↑ a b c d https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/2730581/secretary-of-the-air-force-frank-kendall/
- ↑ https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/04/27/biden-nominate-former-pentagon-official-frank-kendall-top-air-force-post.html
- ↑ https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/frank-kendall-sworn-in-as-secretary-of-the-us-air-force/144817.article