Edward "Pete" Cleveland Aldridge Jr. (born August 18, 1938) is an aerospace engineer and former government official in the U.S. Defense Department. He was also selected as a

payload specialist A payload specialist (PS) was an individual selected and trained by commercial or research organizations for flights of a specific payload on a NASA Space Shuttle mission. People assigned as payload specialists included individuals selected by t ...

for the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

mission STS-62-A, scheduled to launch in July 1986. The mission was canceled after the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster in January 1986, and Aldridge never flew. At the Department of Defense in the 1980s, Aldridge served as the

Under Secretary of the Air Force The under secretary of the air force (USECAF, or SAF/US), sometimes referred to as the under secretary of the Department of the Air Force, is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Air Force, Departmen ...

from 1981 to 1986, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office 1981–1988,Laurie, Clayton. Leaders of the National Reconnaissance Office 1961–2001. Office of the Historian, National Reconnaissance Office. 1 May 2002. and the

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 Sta ...

from 1986 to 1988. Under President George W. Bush, he was the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from 2001 to 2003. From 1989 to 1992 he was president of the Electronic Systems Company division of

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas Corporation was a major American Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own ...

, and later, CEO of

The Aerospace Corporation The Aerospace Corporation is an American nonprofit corporation that operates a federally funded research and development center (FFRDC). The corporation provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions to military, civil ...

Early life and education

Edward Cleveland Aldridge Jr. was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, the son of Lillie Idell (Née Radford) and Edward Cleveland Aldridge. Aldridge received a Bachelor of Science in aeronautical engineering from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in 1960 and a Master of Science from the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

Career

Aldridge played a key role in the late stages of the U.S.'s Cold War with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) by ensuring continued U.S. military access to space. From 1981 to 1988, he served as Director of the National Reconnaissance Office—the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America's intelligence satellites. Uncomfortable with the U.S.'s sole dependence during that time on the Space Shuttle for launch of heavy systems, he initiated a second launcher, the Titan IV, from Martin Marietta with an order for 10 vehicles in 1985. When the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' exploded during its launch the following year, the U.S. military was able to continue its assured access to space despite the Space Shuttle's two year grounding. Aldridge was confirmed as the Pentagon's top weapons buyer on May 8, 2001. As the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, he had responsibility for acquisition, research and development,

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

, advanced technology, international programs, environmental security, nuclear, chemical, and biological programs, and the industrial base. In 2002, during his time as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, he authorized the acquisition of the F-35's before critical developmental testing was finished and stated the F-35 was "setting new standards for technological advances" and "rewriting the books on acquisition and business practices." His successor voiced a different opinion in 2012. "This will make a headline if I say it, but I'm going to say it anyway," Frank Kendall said. "Putting the F-35 into production years before the first test flight was acquisition malpractice. It should not have been done." As of 2012, the military has spent $373 million to fix planes already bought; the ultimate repair bill for imperfect planes has been estimated at close to $8 billion. He served in a variety of jobs, including: * Secretary of the Air Force *President of McDonnell Douglass Electronic Systems Company *President and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation *Adviser to the

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) were two rounds of bilateral conferences and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War superpowers dealt with arms control in two rounds of ...

in Helsinki and Vienna * Senior manager with the

LTV Aerospace LTV may refer to: Television * Lagos Television, a TV channel in Nigeria. * Lanarkshire TV, a defunct local television channel in Scotland - later replaced by Thistle TV * Latvijas Televīzija, Latvian Television * LRT televizija, formerly LTV ...

Corp., * Senior management associate in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget * Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Strategic Programs * Vice President of National Policy and Strategic Systems Group for the System Planning Corporation * Air Force Undersecretary for guiding and supervising the

National Reconnaissance Office The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) is a member of the United States Intelligence Community and an agency of the United States Department of Defense which designs, builds, launches, and operates the reconnaissance satellites of the U.S. f ...

and the Air Force space program

Affiliations

Affiliations included: * President and Fellow of the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

* Member, Defense Science Board * Member,

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

* National director, Air Force Association * Member of the board of directors of the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

Foundation

Awards

Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award The Department of Defense Distinguished Civilian Service Award is the highest civilian award given by the United States Department of Defense. This award and accompanying Distinguished Civilian Service Medal is the department's highest award given ...

* Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Award * Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award In 2005, Aldridge received the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award, by the

Space Foundation The Space Foundation is an American nonprofit organization, the mission of which is to advocate for all sectors of the global space industry through space awareness activities, educational programs, and major industry events. It was founded in ...

. The award is in recognition for individuals who have made substantial contributions to space technology, information, themes, or resources.

References

External links

Spacefacts biography of Edward C. Aldridge Jr.

www.dau.mil
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aldridge, Edward C. Jr. United States Secretaries of the Air Force 1938 births Living people Texas A&M University alumni Georgia Tech alumni C. E. Byrd High School alumni Directors of the National Reconnaissance Office George W. Bush administration personnel Texas Republicans American nonprofit chief executives United States Under Secretaries of Defense Reagan administration personnel