Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary, a former Federal Aviation Administration official may become the next Assistant Secretary for installations, environment and energy.
A White House official on Thursday, 14 October, confirmed to the Air Force Times Biden's intent to nominate Chaudhary for the post. Ravi Chaudhary has served in the Air Force for over 20 years.
If approved by the Senate, he would hold a key position at the Pentagon and will be responsible for Air and Space force installations in times of deferred maintenance and climate change. He will also be entrusted with the management of privatised housing used by airmen and will be the contact for business with the private owners.
Chaudhary will replace John Henderson who left the position in January post the swearing-in of Joe Biden. Jennifer Miller has taken Henderson's post on an acting basis and will vacate once the new officer becomes in charge.
Ravi Chaudhary's recent role at the FAA was as director for advanced programmes and innovation at the office of commercial space transformation, prior to which he served as executive director for regions and center operations.
He has also served in the Air Force as a Commander, Executive Officer to the Commander and Operations Division Chief, Chief of Strategy and Integration, and speechwriter.
According to a PTI report, the White House said, "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".
Chaudhary, an Indian American by ethnicity, served as Commissioner at the President's Advisory Committee on AAPI between 2014 and 2019.
He has documented instances of racism and hate against AAPI service members for more than a decade, reported the Air Force Times.
His alma matter includes Georgetown University, St Mary's University, USAF Air Command and Staff College and the US Air Force Academy.
(With inputs from the PTI and Air Force Times)
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