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.