Matthew Donovan, a 31-year U.S. Air Force veteran, took the oath of office to become undersecretary of the military branch during a ceremony held Friday at the Pentagon.
The Air Force said Friday he will oversee efforts to organize, train, equip and deliver welfare services to approximately 660,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve, civilian airmen and their families worldwide.
He will also manage human resource management, risk management, strategy and policy development, technology investments and weapons acquisition functions in his new role.
“I look forward to helping Secretary [Heather] Wilson and [Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein] meet their goals, and to ensuring we sustain the world’s greatest air, space and cyberspace force,” Donovan said.
President Donald Trump nominated Donovan to the Air Force’s no. 2 civilian position in June.
The retired colonel was confirmed for post on Aug. 1 and administratively sworn in Aug. 3.
He logged more than 2,900 flight hours aboard F-15 and F-5E as a command pilot and previously served as majority policy director for the Senate Armed Services Committee as well as a senior defense policy analyst at Science Applications International Corp.