WASHINGTON: Joe Biden Nominates Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary To Key Pentagon Post

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Thursday
announced his intent to nominate Indian American Ravi Chaudhary to a key
position in the Pentagon.

A former
Air Force officer, Mr Chaudhary has been nominated for the position of the
assistant secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Energy and the
Environment.

He needs
to be confirmed by the United States Senate before he can be sworn in for this
key Pentagon position.

Mr
Chaudhary previously served as a senior executive at the US Department of
Transportation where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation,
Office of Commercial Space, at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA),
according to his bio released by the White House.

In this
role, Mr Chaudhary was responsible for the execution of advanced development
and research programs in support of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation
mission.

While at
the Department of Transportation, he also served as the executive director,
Regions and Centre Operations, where he was responsible for the integration and
support of aviation operations in nine regions located nationwide.

On active
duty from 1993 to 2015 in the US Air Force, he completed a variety of
operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments in the Air Force, the
White House said.

As a C-17
pilot, he conducted global flight operations, including numerous combat
missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a ground deployment as Director of
the Personnel Recovery Center, Multi-National Corps, Iraq.

As a flight
test engineer, he was responsible for flight certification of military avionics
and hardware for Air Force modernization programs supporting flight safety and
mishap prevention.

Earlier
in his career, he supported space launch operations for the Global Positioning
System (GPS) and led third stage and flight safety activities to ensure the
full operational capability of the first GPS constellation, the White House
said.

As a
systems engineer, he supported NASA’s International Space Station protection
activities to ensure the safety of NASA Astronauts.

He also
served as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans
and Pacific Islanders during the Obama Administration.

In this
role, he advised the President on executive branch efforts to improve veterans
support for the AAPI community.

Mr
Chaudhary holds a Doctorate specializing in Executive Leadership and Innovation
from the Georgetown University DLS Program, an MS in Industrial Engineering
from St Mary’s University as a NASA graduate fellow, an MA in Operational Arts
and Military Science from Air University, and a BS in Aeronautical Engineering
from the US Air Force Academy.

He is a
graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and holds Department of Defence
acquisition certifications in program management, test and evaluation, and
systems engineering.