11/08/2026
Engineering the Future Force: Exclusive Interview with the Secretary of the U.S. Air Force
(*excerpts from a story about Dr. Troy E. Meink, the 27th Secretary of the Air Force, and his interview at the recent EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2026)
Dr. Meink discussed the challenge of balancing today’s readiness with tomorrow’s modernization. He also addressed the growing role of simulation in pilot training, the challenge of recruiting and retaining skilled maintainers, the use of artificial intelligence in logistics and maintenance planning, the importance of STEM outreach, and the need to improve acquisition speed while reducing unnecessary bureaucracy.
“We have to stay ahead. The United States needs to maintain its technological advantage. That advantage has benefited us not only from a national security perspective, but from an economic security perspective as well. It really underpins the whole system. So, we have to continue modernizing to preserve that advantage. At the same time, as you pointed out, we have to maintain the ability to fight tonight and fight tomorrow. It’s a constant balancing act. We’re simply not going to be able to keep every part of the force at the readiness level we’d ideally like to maintain. That means we have to make difficult decisions about which parts of the force require the highest readiness to support operations around the world.”
“So, there is an increasing emphasis being placed on simulators and on the ability to tie all of those simulations together so you can conduct much more complex training, not just for new pilots coming into the force, but also for experienced pilots maintaining their proficiency. In many cases, you simply can’t conduct these kinds of operations in the real world because we don’t have the airspace to do it. So, we’re investing heavily in building out that capability within our simulator enterprise so we can train for those scenarios. It’s also much, much less expensive than flying the actual aircraft, so you’re going to see a lot more simulator time devoted to that kind of training.
A big part of the T-7A program was bringing in very high-end simulators to train pilots. As a result, much more of their training will take place in simulators, where they can practice these very complex scenarios that are extremely difficult to replicate in the aircraft. We simply don’t have the airspace, or the ability to create that level of complexity, in live flying. Those are exactly the kinds of exercises you can accomplish in the simulator that you just couldn’t do otherwise.”
“When we look at recruiting, I feel very fortunate as Secretary of the Air Force because both the Air Force and the Space Force met our recruiting goals pretty early this year. That means we’re not simply focused on reaching a number, we’re focused on attracting the most highly qualified people we can into the service.
As we were just discussing, we’re designing, building, flying, and maintaining some of the most complex systems ever built by humans. So, it’s not just about having enough people; it’s about having people who are capable of doing that work. When we come to an event like this, we’re looking for people who are interested in serving and who are interested in aviation and space.”
“We have to continue integrating hardware, sensors, automation, communications, and the IT infrastructure into those systems so they can work together. We need to improve command and control. If you look at the Pacific, C2 is one of our biggest challenges. It’s not just about modernizing individual platforms, it’s about connecting those systems so we can fuse information and distribute data to the force, wherever they happen to be operating around the world. That’s absolutely essential.”
“On the Space Force side, there are a number of missions that simply didn’t exist before. From both a national security and deterrence perspective, I believe many of those are among the most important programs in the entire Department of War, not just within the Department of the Air Force.
Getting those programs into production, fielding them operationally, expanding the Space Force, and training the workforce to operate those systems are all essential. If we want to maintain our advantage, we have to succeed in those areas.”
“A big part of that is making sure we do all of this efficiently. I’m a strong believer in reducing bureaucracy and improving the way we acquire systems. We’re doing a great deal of work in acquisition transformation, not because transformation is the goal itself, but because it’s the tool that allows us to accomplish everything we’ve just talked about. We have to simplify the acquisition process so we can move faster and be more flexible. We, also have a responsibility to spend taxpayer dollars wisely, so efficiency is a major focus for me.”
For the full interview and to read the story, visit:
https://theaviationist.com/2026/08/08/exclusive-interview-secretary-us-air-force/ /
United States Air Force
United States Space Force
Air Force Agency for Modeling & Simulation
Team Orlando
