Trump picks former N.M. congresswoman to lead Air Force
U.S. Senate candidate Heather Wilson shakes hands with supporter Orville Watson in this 2012 file photo, when Wilson was a U.S. Senate candidate.
President Donald Trump announced Monday he will nominate former New Mexico congresswoman Heather Wilson to lead the U.S. Air Force.
Wilson, 56, represented the Albuquerque-based 1st District in Congress between 1998 and 2009. Prior to that she was the secretary of the Children, Youth & Families Department under then-Gov. Gary Johnson. Wilson lost races for the U.S. Senate in New Mexico in 2008 and 2012. She left the state in 2013 to become president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
She's a retired Air Force captain who served on the White House National Security Council staff during President George H.W. Bush's administration.
“Heather is going to make an outstanding secretary of the Air Force,” Trump said in a news release. “Her distinguished military service, high level of knowledge and success in so many different fields gives me great confidence that she will lead our nation’s Air Force with the greatest competence and integrity.”
Wilson was quoted in the release saying, “America and our vital national interests continue to be threatened. I will do my best working with our men and women in the military to strengthen American air and space power to keep our country safe.”
If confirmed by the Senate, Wilson would be the first graduate of the Air Force Academy to become secretary of the Air Force, the White House said.
This is a breaking story, more information will be added as it becomes available.
The Santa Fe New Mexican is a sister-paper of The Taos News.
Go Heather! You will do a great job for the USAF and the rest of us.