JULY 25, 2025 – The Defense Department gained a new leader as Matthew Lohmeier was confirmed by the Senate to be undersecretary of the Air Force.
Nominated for the position by President Donald J. Trump, Lohmeier is a 2006 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and served in both the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force. While in uniform, he racked up over 1,200 hours in both the T-38 Talon and F-15C Eagle aircraft and also commanded a space-based missile warning system squadron.
“I’d like to welcome Matt to the team. His prior service makes him an excellent fit to help us strengthen the readiness and warrior ethos of the Air and Space Forces in order to defend our nation,” said Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. “I’m impressed by his dedication and focus on service culture and grateful for his advocacy for department resources and modernization, and I know he will be a great asset to our total force airmen, guardians and military families.”
Working alongside Meink, Lohmeier will be responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the Air Force Department. That role includes the organizing, training and equipping of some 700,000 military and civilian personnel, as well as overseeing more than $200 billion in assets.
As the Air Force’s chief management officer, Lohmeier will also oversee the department’s budget and will be responsible for directing strategy and policy development, risk management, acquisitions, investments and the management of human resources.
While testifying during his confirmation hearing before the Senate on May 1, Lohmeier told lawmakers he’d be an advocate for a larger and better-funded Air Force.
“Every single national security option the president needs is underpinned by air and space power,” Lohmeier said. “The president has nominated me for this important position with the trust that I will be a driving force behind a culture of integrity in the Department of the Air Force. This includes eliminating all unnecessary distractions and enabling military members to focus on their mission.”
The new Air Force undersecretary also testified that, in addition to aligning with the president’s peace through strength agenda, he is also aligned with the goals of the defense secretary.
“Secretary [Pete] Hegseth has said his priorities include restoring the warrior ethos and a focus on war fighting, rebuilding the military and re-establishing deterrence,” Lohmeier said. “I am firmly aligned with those priorities, and there are unique ways in which they must be accomplished in the Air and Space Forces … all of my efforts will be nested within that framework.”
The United States has identified China as a pacing threat, and Lohmeier told lawmakers he has a unique perspective on that threat, which was formed through his own experiences during his time at the Air Force Academy, and then later as a commissioned officer.
He speaks Mandarin, and as part of his time at the Air Force Academy, he participated in an exchange program with the People’s Liberation Army Air Force Academy in China.
“I lived in the dorms with … cadets, attended their classes — even aeronautical engineering — did [physical training] with those cadets in the snow, [and] ate in their chow hall,” Lohmeier told senators in May during his nomination hearing.
After graduating from the Air Force Academy in 2006, Lohmeier spent time as a T-38 Talon instructor pilot and then moved to an assignment at Kadena Air Base, Japan, where he flew the F-15C aircraft.
“That assignment served as yet another reminder to me of the threat posed by the PRC to our allies and our strategic partners, as well as to our own economic prosperity and military interests at home and abroad,” Lohmeier said. “I am keenly aware of that threat, and I understand the need for ready Air and Space Forces, well-trained and equipped to meet the China challenge, to deter any aggression and, if needed, to defeat that aggression.”
Following his time in the F-15C, Lohmeier transferred to Air Force Space Command. Then, when the U.S. Space Force was established in 2019, he took a command position leading a combined operation of U.S. and allied partners in control of $18 billion in space-based missile warning architecture.
“I speak the language of both the Air Force and the Space Force,” Lohmeier said. “I am air-minded and space-minded. I understand the necessity of the United States’ superiority in both of those warfighting domains.”
By C. Todd Lopez
DOD News