Frank Kendall III

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Frank Kendall
Frank Kendall III (2).jpg
26th United States Secretary of the Air Force
Assumed office
July 28, 2021
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byJohn P. Roth (acting)
Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
In office
October 6, 2011 – January 20, 2017
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byAsh Carter
Succeeded by (Acting)
Personal details
Born (1949-01-26) January 26, 1949 (age 72)
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUnited States Military Academy (BS)
California Institute of Technology (MS)
Long Island University (MBA)
Georgetown University (JD)
Signature

Frank Kendall III (born January 26, 1949) is an American engineer, lawyer, and executive who is the 26th United States Secretary of the Air Force. He has served in several senior positions in the US Department of Defense.[1] He is a West Point graduate[2] (Class of 1971, Distinguished Graduate) and retired as a LTC from the US Army Reserves. From 2012 to 2017 he served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics in the Obama administration.[3][4][5][6]

Career[]

Kendall began his career as a US Army officer. After several assignments including postings to Germany and teaching engineering at West Point, he joined the civil service working as a systems engineer in missile defense.  In 1986, he became the Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Strategic Defense Systems as a member of the Senior Executive Service. From 1989 to 1994, he served as acting and then permanent Deputy Director of Defense Research and Engineering with responsibility for all US conventional weapon systems research and development programs. After leaving government service in 1994, Kendall served as Corporate Vice President of Engineering at Raytheon and later as a consultant.  During this period Kendall acquired a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center and worked on a pro bono basis as a human rights attorney.[7] 

Obama administration[]

In 2010 Kendall returned to government, first as Principal Under Secretary and then Under Secretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics.[8]

During his tenure as Under Secretary, Kendall implemented policies that led to substantial improvements in the cost and schedule performance of the Defense Department’s weapons acquisition programs.[9]  In 2016 he was recognized as Person of the Year by Aviation Week and Space Technology for his cost control efforts.[10] In addition to the policy changes he initiated and executed under the “Better Buying Power” initiatives he directly oversaw over 50 of the largest defense weapons programs.  Examples include the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program where he froze production for two years to incentivize efforts to stabilize the design,[11] the GPS 3 ground system, OCX, where he led the effort to restructure and complete this troubled program.[12]  He oversaw the initiation of the  development of the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber which is currently executing to plan.[13] He formulated and led the effort to acquire the Military Health System GENESIS (MHS GENESIS) program, modern healthcare management system that has been adopted by the Department of Veterans Affairs as well as the Defense Department.[14][15]  Kendall led the effort to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan[16][17][18] with rapid acquisition programs and he led the effort to remove Syrian chemical weapons from that country and destroy them at sea.[19]  Kendall was a major sponsor for innovation,[20] launching the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency led Aerospace Innovation Initiative.[21]  Kendall was one of the first to raise alarms about Chinese military modernization and the threat it posed to US conventional military superiority.[22]  While in office he authored the articles on defense acquisition that he compiled in his book “Getting Defense Acquisition Right".[23]

References[]

  1. ^ Cohen, Joe Gould, Rachel (July 27, 2021). "Kendall confirmed as Air Force secretary after senators lift procedural holds". Defense News. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  2. ^ "WebCite query result". www.webcitation.org. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2020. Cite uses generic title (help)
  3. ^ S. HRG. 112–745 (112th Congress, 2012).
  4. ^ "Senator Lifts Holds on Most Nominees". New York Times. February 9, 2010. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved September 24, 2011.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". whitehouse.gov. July 30, 2009. Retrieved August 3, 2009 – via National Archives.
  6. ^ "Frank Kendall: Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics". United States Department of Defense. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2013. Mr. Kendall is an attorney and has been active in the field of human rights, working primarily on a pro bono basis. He has worked with Amnesty International USA, where he served as a member of the Board of Directors, with Human Rights First, for whom he was an observer at Guantanamo, and with the Tahirih Justice Center, where he was Chair of the Board of Directors.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ "WebCite query result". www.webcitation.org. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2020. Cite uses generic title (help)
  8. ^ "Frank Kendall > U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE > Biography". www.defense.gov. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  9. ^ "Better Buying Power 3.0 Stresses Innovation, Affordability". U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  10. ^ Network, Aviation Week. "Aviation Week Network Announces 2017 Program Excellence Awards Winners". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  11. ^ "US Weapons Man: F-35 Fighter Plan Was 'Acquisition Malpractice'". ABC News. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  12. ^ "Kendall Says Recompeting OCX is a Possibility". SpaceNews. December 2, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  13. ^ Hitchens, Theresa. "Kendall, LaPlante Complete Long Range Strike Bomber Review: EXCLUSIVE". Breaking Defense. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  14. ^ "DoD Awards Contract for Electronic Health Records". U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  15. ^ "VA Launches New Electronic Health Record Platform Amid a Pandemic, Wildfires and Citywide Power Outages". Nextgov.com. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  16. ^ "Kendall USD ATL Frank 120108-F-AX764-004". Breaking Defense. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  17. ^ "Q&A with Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics". Aerospace Industries Association. April 14, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  18. ^ Acquisition, Defense (September 9, 2016). "Manufacturing Innovation and Technological Superiority". Medium. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
  19. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (January 2, 2014). "U.S. Military Ship Readied for Mission to Destroy Syria's Chemical Weapons (Published 2014)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  20. ^ "First Chemical Weapons Leave Syria for Destruction at Sea". USNI News. January 7, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  21. ^ ago | 01/28/2015, Megan Eckstein | 5 years (January 28, 2015). "Kendall Announced Aerospace Innovation Initiative to Support 6th-Generation Fighter Jet". Defense Daily. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  22. ^ "Slow and Steady is Losing the Defense Acquisition Race". www.govexec.com. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  23. ^ Getting Defense Acquisition Right: The Honorable Frank Kendall. January 24, 2017. ISBN 978-1542730938.

External links[]

Political offices
Preceded by
Ash Carter 		Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics
2011–2017 		Succeeded by

Acting
Preceded by
John P. Roth
Acting 		United States Secretary of the Air Force
2021–present 		Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by
Carlos Del Toro
as Secretary of the Navy 		Order of precedence of the United States
as Secretary of the Air Force 		Succeeded by
Mark A. Milley
as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Retrieved from ""