--- title: "Secretary Anderson Article" url: "https://volunteermagazine.cap.gov/2/winter-2025/45/secretary-anderson-article" --- # Former CAP National Commander Anderson Named Assistant Secretary of the Air Force By Paul South ![oath2.jpg](https://volunteermagazine.cap.gov/u/oath2-9ACjI2.jpg) _In an official swearing-in ceremony Oct. 6 at the Pentagon, Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink (left) congratulates Richard L. Anderson after he took the oath to become assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Looking on is his wife, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Ruth Anderson, a life member of Civil Air Patrol. Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force_ Civil Air Patrol Brig. Gen. and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Richard L. Anderson is the new assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs. Appointed by President Trump, Anderson was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in late September and sworn in soon after at the annual Air and Space Forces Association National Convention and followed up with a ceremonial swearing-in on Oct. 6 by Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink. For Anderson, serving as Air Force assistant secretary is the latest milestone in a distinguished military and civilian career. “To return to the Air Force as a senior civilian leader after 30 years in an Air Force uniform is a dream come true,” Anderson said, “and especially so because my portfolio includes Civil Air Patrol.” Anderson, 70, began his road to the Pentagon as a 13-year-old CAP cadet in the Roanoke Composite Squadron in Roanoke, Virginia. He was the first recipient of the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award to rise to the level of national commander. His father, Richard “Dick” Anderson, sparked Anderson’s love for aviation while acquiring and working to restore a 1944 Beech D-17S Staggerwing aircraft, the type flown by CAP pilots during their World War II Coastal Patrol mission. That passion for flight blossomed when Anderson attended his first CAP meeting with a neighbor. “I didn’t fully understand CAP at the time, but the minute I walked into the squadron headquarters and saw cadets my age attired in the Air Force uniform, my first reaction was, ‘Where do I sign up?’” he said. ![Spaatz Award Presentation 1973 by Gov. A. Linwood Holton.jpeg](https://volunteermagazine.cap.gov/u/spaatz-award-presentation-1973-by-gov-a-linwood-holton-34wSey.jpeg) _Anderson (center, right) receives his Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award from Virginia Gov. A. Linwood Holton in 1973._ Later came his first orientation flight that ignited a desire to fly and opened the door to cadet solo and private pilot scholarships, which opened the wide world of aviation to him. Anderson received his Air Force commission after graduating from Virginia Tech in 1979. Among his many Air Force roles, Anderson served as commander of a Titan II ICBM crew at Little Rock Air Forces Base in Arkansas and as a Minuteman II squadron operations officer at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. He also served in the Strategic Air Command, U.S. Atlantic Command, U.S. Pacific Command, and at the Pentagon in the Air Force Secretariat and in the office of the Secretary of Defense. He retired from the Air Force in 2009. In the civilian world, Anderson served in the Virginia General Assembly from 2010-2018 and as chairman of the Virginia Republican Party from 2020 to early 2025. Among his many leadership roles in CAP, he served as national commander from 1993-1996 and on the organization’s board of governors from 2009-2014, including two years as chairman. His service in the Air Force auxiliary, beginning as a cadet, prepared him for all of his future roles, Anderson said. “CAP taught me from the first moment (as a cadet) the value of embracing the qualities of servant-leadership as my model,” Anderson said. “It taught me to plan, execute, and follow up and imbued me with respect for the value of leading through collaboration and consensus decision-making.” He added, “What I learned as a CAP cadet formed a lifelong foundation that served me as a CAP squadron, wing, and region commander; CAP national vice commander; chairman of the CAP Board of Governors; a 30-year Air Force career; service as a state legislator; chairman of a state political party; and now as assistant secretary of the Air Force.” ![PullQuoteSecAnderson.jpg](https://volunteermagazine.cap.gov/u/pullquotesecanderson-c4pLzY.jpg) Civil Air Patrol falls under Anderson’s umbrella as assistant secretary. Asked if he expected the organization’s role to change, Anderson reflected on its history. “CAP’s congressionally mandated missions and portfolio of non-combat missions assigned by the Secretary of the Air Force, have been dynamic since just prior to the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and U.S. entry into World War II,” he said. “I suspect that CAP’s mission set will continue to evolve and that CAP will be entrusted with ever-increasing responsibilities in performing its missions for America.” Anderson also expects that consistent congressional funding of CAP will continue. As assistant secretary, Anderson wants to bring stakeholders together in a spirit of collaboration. He also wants to address specific challenges. “I wish to be the assistant secretary who brought stakeholders together and embraced initiatives that will drive down the Air Force pilot shortage, reduce the suicide rate to unprecedented low levels, and drive the sexual assault rate to near extinction.” And, he has high hopes for Civil Air Patrol. “I wish for CAP to continue to flourish and to broaden its service to the Air Force and to our nation,” Anderson said. As he tackles his new duties, Anderson thinks of his father and of CAP and Air Force Reserve Col. Charles S. Glass. Glass was Anderson’s first squadron commander, who flew him on one of his first cadet orientation flights. Now in his 90s, Glass lives in Roanoke, where he enjoys an active life. Glass, he said, “modeled leadership that I wished to emulate in my own life.” Though most would consider Anderson’s career extraordinary, he says his life mirrors that of an untold number of other cadets. Asked what counsel he would offer his younger self, Anderson said, “My advice would be to follow the same path that was set out for me by other CAP and CAP-USAF members who laid out a pathway for me and other cadets to pursue. “My own path isn’t unusual; I’ve seen it replicated in the life journey of thousands of CAP members over the last half century of my CAP membership.” As he reflected on his rise from teen CAP cadet to assistant secretary of the Air Force, Anderson said, “What I tell people is, you never know where life is going to lead you. When those doors open up, just step through.”