President Biden is eyeing to select Alex Wagner, Aerospace Industries Association vice president for strategic initiatives, as the U.S. Air Force assistant secretary for manpower and reserve affairs nominee, Air Force Times reported Friday.
If confirmed, he will be in charge of handling military and civilian personnel concerns, Reserve components affairs and ensure the readiness of an estimated 700,000 workforce members in the Department of the Air Force.
Prior to his role as AIA executive, Wagner served the Department of Defense for seven years and most recently assumed the chief of staff to the 22nd Secretary of the Army post. He led the direction of policies, communications and legislations while ushering the civilian and military leadership as the principal strategic adviser.
He was an adjunct professor of law from 2011 to 2018 at Georgetown University Law Center, where he contributed to the drafting of the U.S. Supreme Court’s amici briefs on behalf of the previous Secretaries of the U.S. Navy, Army and Air Force.
At the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he worked as the senior adviser on rule of law and detainee policy, where he crafted policy initiatives on weapons systems autonomy, leading to the pioneer international discussions at the United Nations in 2014.
Once he receives Senate confirmation, Wagner will replace John Fedrigo, who assumed the acting assistant secretary position in January.
