
As Troy Meink awaits a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) hearing as President Trump's nominee to become Air Force secretary, the new administration named Gary Ashworth as the acting service secretary. Ashworth is a member of the senior executive service (SES) who served as acting assistant secretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment under former President Biden's defense acquisition chief, William LaPlante. Section 1109 of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act mandated DoD reduce its SES staff to 1,260…