Marc Selinger
Defense Daily
The Senate late May 8 confirmed former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) to be the 24th secretary of the Air Force.
Wilson, who was approved by a 76-22 vote, is President Trump’s first service secretary nominee to be confirmed. She is expected to be sworn in “within a week,” according to the Air Force.
“I look forward to getting to work, focusing on readiness, modernization, development of leaders and research for the future,” Wilson said.
Wilson’s supporters praised her experience, including her tenure as a congresswoman, Air Force officer and National Security Council staff member. An Air Force Academy graduate with a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, she has been president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology since June 2013.
Wilson “is an experienced, dedicated public servant with distinguished service in uniform, as an elected official, and as a leader in academia,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said. “I am confident that she will make an exceptional secretary.”
Her opponents, including Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, cited alleged ethics missteps, including an Energy Department inspector general’s finding that Wilson earned $450,000 for nuclear lab consulting without providing evidence that the work was performed.
“Without question, Dr. Wilson has notable credentials, but I have significant concerns about certain of her past actions,” Reed said.
Wilson will succeed Deborah Lee James, who stepped down from the Air Force helm in January. Lisa Disbrow, the Air Force undersecretary, has been serving as acting secretary.
At her March 30 confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Wilson testified that the “Air Force is too small for what the nation expects of it.” She expressed support for replacing the service’s aging systems, including aircraft and nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“The average Air Force aircraft is now 27 years old, and while life-extension programs and skilled maintainers have kept them in reasonably good shape, the cost of continuing to extend the life of old airplanes is very high,” she said. “The next Air Force secretary will be modernizing fighters, tankers, bombers, intelligence platforms, space capabilities, munitions and our nuclear deterrent.”
