The 27th secretary of the Air Force served as a flight test engineer and deputy program manager at what was the National Air Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson from June 1994 to March 1998 .
He has also worked for the Air Force Research Laboratory, which is based at Wright-Patterson.
From August 1994 to February 2001, he was program manager and senior research engineer for AFRL at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. From February 2001 to March 2002, he served as chief technical adviser in the Space Vehicles Directorate at AFRL, also at Kirtland.
He also earned master’s and doctoral degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Ohio State University.
Meink is a “trained engineer who rose through ROTC to senior positions, including those focusing on space, as the department’s highest-ranking civilian leader,” the Air Force said Wednesday.
“The department is building and operating some of the most complex systems ever fielded in both air and space,” Meink told the Senate in March. “We need not only the right number of airmen and guardians, but also need the right skills, training, support and focus to deliver and operate those systems.”
In a statement, the Air Force noted that Meink also discussed how his past career prepared him for his new role.
“I was building systems to have to support against this quickly evolving threat,” he said. “These threats have shaped my perspective.”
His career includes stints as a KC-135 navigator and instructor and as a lead test engineer for the design and evaluation of ballistic missile test vehicles for the Missile Defense Agency.
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