The Indian Panorama

Tag: Ravi Chaudhary

  • Indian-American flight test engineer Ravi Chaudhary is confirmed by the US Senate as Assistant Secretary of Air Force

    Indian-American flight test engineer Ravi Chaudhary is confirmed by the US Senate as Assistant Secretary of Air Force

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The US Senate has confirmed Indian-American flight test engineer Ravi Chaudhary as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for the US Air Force, one of the top civilian leadership positions in the Pentagon.

    The Senate on Wednesday, March 15,  voted 65-29 to confirm the former Air Force officer’s nomination with more than a dozen votes being cast by the opposition Republican Party. Chaudhary previously served as a Senior Executive at the US Department of Transportation where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). He was responsible for the execution of advanced development and research programs in support of the FAA’s commercial space transportation mission. While at the transportation department, he also served as the executive director of the regions and center operations, where he looked over the integration and support of aviation operations in nine regions.

    During his service in the US Air Force from 1993 to 2015, Chaudhary completed a variety of operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments. As a C-17 pilot, he conducted global flight operations, including numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as ground deployment as the director of the personnel recovery center at multi-national corps in Iraq.

    As a flight test engineer, he was responsible for flight certification of military avionics and hardware for the force’s modernization programs supporting flight safety. Earlier in his career, he supported space launch operations for the global positioning system (GPS) and led third-stage and flight safety activities to ensure the full operational capability of the first GPS constellation. As a systems engineer, Chaudhary supported NASA’s International Space Station protection activities to ensure the safety of NASA astronauts. He also served as a member of the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the Obama administration. In this role, he advised the president on executive branch efforts to improve veterans’ support for the AAPI community.

    Chaudhary holds a Doctorate specializing in executive leadership and Innovation from the Georgetown University D.L.S. Program, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from St. Mary’s University as a NASA graduate fellow, an M.A. in Operational Arts and Military Science from Air University, and a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Academy.

    He is a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute and holds Department of Defense acquisition certifications in programme management, test and evaluation, and systems engineering.

  • Cloture motion filed for Garcetti’s nomination; moves step closer to confirmation by US Senate

    Cloture motion filed for Garcetti’s nomination; moves step closer to confirmation by US Senate

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): The nomination of Eric Garcetti for US Ambassador to India moved a step closer to being confirmed by the Senate as it adopted a cloture motion, indicating that the ruling Democrats have the support of a super-majority for his selection for the key position.
    Such a move by Senate Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer came a day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at its business meeting voted 13-8 in favor of his nomination.
    Garcetti’s nomination is pending before the US Congress since July 2021, when he was nominated for the prestigious diplomatic posting by President Joe Biden.
    His nomination was not brought to the Senate floor for a vote during the last Congress as the ruling Democratic Party did not have enough support to get the 52-year-old close aide of Biden through.
    On Thursday, March 9 afternoon, a Senate clerk read and brought the nomination of Garcetti to be Ambassador of the US to India on the Senate floor.
    “I send the cloture motion to the desk,” Schumer said on the floor which was adopted by a voice vote. A cloture motion is a procedural motion that, if adopted, limits further debate on the matter at hand. It allows the majority to defeat efforts by the minority to delay or obstruct proceedings on a matter by showing the matter has the support of a super-majority. After that, the clerk read a message from 16 senators.
    “We, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the Senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of executive counter number 65, Eric Garcetti of California to be ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of India,” the clerk said.
    Schumer sought and received consent that the names of the 16 Senators are not read, following which the cloture motion was agreed to. Kenneth Juster, the last occupant of the ambassadorial residence of the US in New Delhi, stepped down in January 2021 after the change of government in America.
    During Thursday’s session, Schumer also got a similar cloture motion passed on the nomination of Indian-American Ravi Chaudhary to be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force.

  • Indian American Ravi Chaudhary nominated to a key position in Pentagon

    Indian American Ravi Chaudhary nominated to a key position in Pentagon

    WASHINGTON(TIP): US President Joe Biden on Thursday, October 14, announced his intent to nominate Indian American Ravi Chaudhary to a key position in the Pentagon. A former Air Force officer, Chaudhary has been nominated for the position of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Energy and the Environment.

    He needs to be confirmed by the United States Senate before he can be sworn in for this key Pentagon position.

    Chaudhary previously served as a senior executive at the US Department of Transportation where he was Director of Advanced Programs and Innovation, Office of Commercial Space, at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), according to his bio released by the White House.

    In this role, Chaudhary was responsible for the execution of advanced development and research programs in support of the FAA’s Commercial Space Transportation mission.

    While at the Department of Transportation, he also served as the executive director, Regions and Centre Operations, where he was responsible for the integration and support of aviation operations in nine regions located nationwide.

    On active duty from 1993 to 2015 in the US Air Force, he completed a variety of operational, engineering, and senior staff assignments in the Air Force, the White House said.

    As a C-17 pilot, he conducted global flight operations, including numerous combat missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a ground deployment as Director of the Personnel Recovery Center, Multi-National Corps, Iraq.