United States Secretary of the Air Force

The secretary of the Air Force, sometimes referred to as the secretary of the Department of the Air Force, (SecAF, or SAF/OS) is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. The secretary of the Air Force is a civilian appointed by the president, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The secretary reports to the secretary of defense and/or the deputy secretary of defense, and is by statute responsible for and has the authority to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Air Force.
The secretary works closely with their civilian deputy, the under secretary of the Air Force; and their military deputies, the chief of staff of the Air Force and the chief of space operations.
The first secretary of the Air Force, Stuart Symington, was sworn in on September 18, 1947, upon the split and re-organization of the Department of War and Army Air Forces into an air military department and a military service of its own, with the enactment of the National Security Act.
On January 20, 2021, John P. Roth was appointed as the acting secretary of the Air Force.
Responsibilities.
The secretary is the head of the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Air Force is defined as a "Military Department". It is not limited to the Washington headquarters staffs, rather it is an entity which includes all the components of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, including their reserve components:
The exclusive responsibilities of the secretary of the Air Force are enumerated in Title 10 Section 9013 (b) of the United States Code. They include, but are not limited to:
By direction of the secretary of defense, the secretary of the Air Force assigns military units of the Air Force and Space Force, other than those who carry out the functions listed in "10 USC 8013 (b)", to the Unified and Specified Combatant Commands to perform missions assigned to those commands. Air Force and Space Force units while assigned to Combatant Commands may only be reassigned by authority of the secretary of defense.
However, the chain of command for Air Force and Space Force units for other purposes than the operational direction goes from the "president" to the "secretary of defense" to the "secretary of the Air Force" to the "commanders of Air Force and Space Force Commands". Air Force and Space Force officers have to report on any matter to the secretary, or the secretary's designate, when requested. The secretary has the authority to detail, prescribe the duties, and to assign Air Force and Space Force service members and civilian employees, and may also change the title of any activity not statutorily designated. The secretary has several responsibilities under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) with respect to Air Force and Space Force service members, including the authority to convene general courts martial and to commute sentences.
The secretary of the Air Force may also be assigned additional responsibilities by the president or the secretary of defense, e.g. the secretary is designated as the "DoD Executive Agent for Space", and as such:
Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.
The secretary of the Air Force's principal staff element, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, has responsibility for acquisition and auditing, comptroller issues (including financial management), inspector general matters, legislative affairs, and public affairs within the Department of the Air Force. The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force is one of the Department of the Air Force's three headquarter staffs at the seat of government, with the others being the Air Staff and the Office of the Chief of Space Operations.
Composition.
The Office of the Secretary of the Air Force is composed of: