Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR)

With the emergence of naval aviation as a major new military technique, the Navy had increasingly large organizations to oversee it.

In 1921, Congress replaced those positions with a distinct Bureau of Aeronautics.

Finally, on June 24, 1926, Congress created the position of Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics to oversee the United States' naval aviation forces.

[1] On February 6, 1959, the office was redesignated Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research and Development).

[2] In April 1977, the name was changed to Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Engineering and Systems).