U.S. Air Force Academy announces Class of 2025 commencement speaker
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink will serve as the U.S. Air Force Academy's Class of 2025's commencement speaker, the Academy announced Wednesday.
Meink assumed his new role as the 27th Secretary of the Air Force just last week on Friday, May 16. As the Air Force’s highest-ranking civilian leader, he serves as the advisor to the Secretary of Defense on matters related to air and space operations, USAFA said.
According to USAFA, Meink began his Air Force career in 1988 as a KC-135 tanker navigator and instructor, flying over 100 missions in support of various combat and humanitarian missions. He later served as a lead test engineer for ballistic missile test vehicles for the Missile Defense Agency.
As an Air Force civilian, Meink led communication teams with both the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), where he oversaw next-generation research focused on "global space capabilities, optical sensors, and advanced structures," USAFA said.
Just before he was appointed to Secretary of the Air Force, Meink served as the Principal Deputy Director of the NRO.
The 2025 graduation ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 29, and will be held in Falcon Stadium. It will be open to ticket-holding members of the public for in-person attendance – but will also be livestreamed online by KRDO13.
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