The Air Force in mid-November appointed Troy Meink to serve as deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space. Meink has served in a variety of Air Force jobs since 1988, including his most recent role as director of signals intelligence systems acquisition, in Chantilly, Va. “When the opportunity arose for me to take this position, there was a little bit of apprehension and excitement,” said Meink in a Dec. 3 release. “An old mentor once told me that if a job doesn’t scare you a little bit, then you shouldn’t take it. So it fits . . . scares me a bit, but this gives me the opportunity to do great things for the Air Force.” Meink said his primary goal is to maintain the US’ leadership role in space. However, in order to do that, the Air Force is going to have to become even more innovative as budgets decline, he noted. “Allowing our airmen, both Active Duty and civilian, to be innovative and push the edges is what is going to keep us on top,” said Meink.
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.
