First Interview with SECAF Frank Kendall

Frank Kendall, freshly installed as the 26th Secretary of the Air Force, acknowledged during an Aug. 5 interview that confronting and solving hard problems energizes him.
“I enjoy working on hard problems; I enjoy working on complicated problems. I’m very fixed on making real progress,” said Kendall, who has more than 50 years of defense-related experience and was sworn into office July 28.
As the highest-ranking civilian leader of an organization with nearly 700,000 Airmen and Guardians and a budget request exceeding $173 billion, Kendall, a West Point graduate who also is an engineer and lawyer, and someone with a long and deep record of senior national security positions, will confront no shortage of issues that are both complicated and multi-layered.
And while each of the matters he’ll face will demand uniquely crafted analyses and considerations, Kendall says the over-arching philosophy guiding his actions and decision-making is captured in four words: “One team, one fight.”