PERSON: Frank Kendall

Senior Fellow

Frank Kendall III (born January 26, 1949) is an American engineer, lawyer and executive who served as the 26th United States secretary of the Air Force from 2021 to 2025. He has served in several senior positions in the U.S. Department of Defense. A West Point graduate (Class of 1971, Distinguished Graduate), he retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve. From 2011 to 2017, Kendall served as the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics in the Obama Administration. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Kendall began his career as a U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

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