United States Secretary of the Air Force

Secretary of the Air Force
Seal of the Department of the Air Force
Flag of the secretary
Incumbent Gary A. Ashworth Acting since January 20, 2025
Department of the Air Force
Style	Mr. Secretary The Honorable (formal address in writing)
Reports to	Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense
Appointer	The President with the advice and consent of the Senate
Term length	No fixed term
Precursor	Secretary of War
Inaugural holder	Stuart Symington
Formation	September 18, 1947 (1947-09-18)
Succession	3rd in SecDef succession
Deputy	The Under Secretary (principal civilian deputy) The Chief of Staff (military deputy) The Chief of Space Operations (military deputy)
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level II
Website	Office of the Secretary

The Secretary of the Air Force (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the Head of the Department of the Air Force. It is an organization within the Department of Defense of the United States of America.

The Secretary of the Air Force is appointed from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Secretary reports to the Secretary of Defense and/or the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and is by statute responsible for and has the authority to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Air Force.

List of secretaries of the Air Force

Image	Name	Start	End	Duration	President(s)
	Stuart Symington	September 18, 1947	April 24, 1950	2 years, 218 days		Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
	Thomas K. Finletter	April 24, 1950	January 20, 1953	2 years, 271 days
	Harold E. Talbott	February 4, 1953	August 13, 1955	2 years, 190 days		Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961)
	Donald A. Quarles	August 15, 1955	April 30, 1957	1 year, 258 days
	James H. Douglas Jr.	May 1, 1957	December 10, 1959	2 years, 223 days
	Dudley C. Sharp	December 11, 1959	January 20, 1961	1 year, 40 days
	Eugene M. Zuckert	January 24, 1961	September 30, 1965	4 years, 249 days		John F. Kennedy (1961–1963)
						Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969)
	Harold Brown	October 1, 1965	February 15, 1969	3 years, 137 days
						Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
	Robert C. Seamans Jr.	February 15, 1969	May 15, 1973	4 years, 89 days
	John L. McLucas	May 15, 1973	July 18, 1973	2 years, 192 days
		July 18, 1973	November 23, 1975
						Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
	Thomas C. Reed	January 2, 1976	April 6, 1977	1 year, 94 days
						Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
	John C. Stetson	April 6, 1977	May 18, 1979	2 years, 42 days
	Hans Mark	May 18, 1979	July 26, 1979	1 year, 267 days
		July 26, 1979	February 9, 1981
						Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
	Verne Orr	February 9, 1981	November 30, 1985	4 years, 294 days
	Russell A. Rourke	December 9, 1985	April 6, 1986	118 days
	Edward C. Aldridge Jr.	April 6, 1986	June 8, 1986	2 years, 254 days
		June 9, 1986	December 16, 1988
	James F. McGovern	December 16, 1988	April 29, 1989	134 days
						George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
	John J. Welch Jr.	April 29, 1989	May 21, 1989	22 days
	Donald B. Rice	May 21, 1989	January 20, 1993	3 years, 244 days
	Michael B. Donley Acting	January 20, 1993	July 13, 1993	174 days		Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
	Merrill A. McPeak Acting	July 14, 1993	August 5, 1993	22 days
	Sheila Widnall	August 6, 1993	October 31, 1997	4 years, 86 days
	F. Whitten Peters	November 1, 1997	July 30, 1999	3 years, 80 days
		July 30, 1999	January 20, 2001
	Lawrence J. Delaney Acting	January 21, 2001	May 31, 2001	130 days		George W. Bush (2001–2009)
	James G. Roche	June 1, 2001	January 20, 2005	3 years, 233 days
	Peter B. Teets Acting	January 20, 2005	March 25, 2005	64 days
	Michael Montelongo Acting	March 25, 2005	March 28, 2005	3 days
	Michael L. Dominguez Acting	March 28, 2005	July 29, 2005	123 days
	Pete Geren Acting	July 29, 2005	November 4, 2005	98 days
	Michael Wynne	November 4, 2005	June 20, 2008	2 years, 229 days
	Michael B. Donley	June 21, 2008	October 2, 2008	5 years, 0 days
		October 2, 2008	June 21, 2013
						Barack Obama (2009–2017)
	Eric Fanning Acting	June 21, 2013	December 20, 2013	182 days
	Deborah Lee James	December 20, 2013	January 20, 2017	3 years, 31 days
	Lisa Disbrow Acting	January 20, 2017	May 16, 2017	116 days		Donald Trump (2017–2021)
	Heather Wilson	May 16, 2017	May 31, 2019	2 years, 15 days
	Matthew Donovan Acting	June 1, 2019	October 18, 2019	139 days
	Barbara Barrett	October 18, 2019	January 20, 2021	1 year, 94 days
	John P. Roth Acting	January 20, 2021	July 28, 2021	189 days		Joe Biden (2021–2025)
	Frank Kendall III	July 28, 2021	January 20, 2025	3 years, 180 days
	Gary A. Ashworth Acting	January 20, 2025	present			Donald Trump (2025–present)
	Troy Meink Nominee	TBD