Donley in as acting Air Force secretary

  • Published
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Michael B. Donley is the new acting secretary of the Air Force, succeeding Michael Wynne, who held the position since November 2005.

Mr. Donley was previously the administration and management director for the Secretary of Defense, a position sometimes referred to as "mayor" of the Pentagon.

The secretary is responsible for organizing, training, equipping and providing for the welfare of its nearly 370,000 men and women on active duty, 180,000 members of the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserve, 160,000 civilians and their families. He oversees an annual budget of approximately $110 billion and ensures the Air Force can meet its current and future operational requirements.

Mr. Donley has more than 26 years of experience in the national security community, including service in the Senate, White House and the Pentagon. During his career he has been involved in strategy and policymaking at the highest levels and is a recognized expert in national security organization, planning and budgeting.

From 1996 until his appointment as his former Pentagon post, he was a senior vice president at Hicks and Associates, a subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation. During this time he served as a special adviser to the Defense Reform Commission in Bosnia-Herzegovina for the State Department and contributed to several major defense projects involving organizational reform and planning.

From 1993 to 1996, Mr. Donley was a senior fellow at the Institute for Defense Analyses. He was acting secretary of the Air Force for seven months in 1993. From 1989 to 1993 he served as the assistant secretary of the Air Force (financial management and comptroller) with responsibility for budgeting, cost and economic analysis.

Mr. Donley served the National Security Council as deputy executive secretary from 1987 to 1989 and as director of defense programs from 1984 to 1987. He was also a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee (1981-84), a legislative assistant to the Senate (1979-81) and the editor of the National Security Record for the Heritage Foundation (1978-79).

He served in the Army from 1972 to 1975 with the 18th Airborne Corps and 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), attending the Army's intelligence and parachute schools and the Defense Language Institute.

Mr. Donley earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations from the University of Southern California. He attended the Program for Senior Executives in National Security at Harvard University and, until recently, was a doctoral candidate at Georgetown University.