The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) was a civilian office of the United States Department of the Navy. The Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) initially reported to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and later to the Under Secretary of the Navy.
With the emergence of naval aviation as a major new military technique, the Navy had increasingly large organizations to oversee it. From 1910, there was an Officer in Charge of Aviation, then a Director of Naval Aeronautics, then in 1916 a Director of Naval Aviation. 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. The position was vacant from 1932 until 1941, and upon being re-occupied, the position was re-titled Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) on September 11, 1941.
On February 6, 1959, the office was redesignated Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research and Development). In April 1977, the name was changed to Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Engineering and Systems).
The office was disestablished in 1990, when the office was merged with the office of Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Shipbuilding and Logistics) to create the new office of Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisitions).
| Name | Assumed office | Left office | President appointed by | Secretary served under | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Pearson Warner | July 7, 1926 | March 15, 1929 | Calvin Coolidge | Curtis D. Wilbur | |
| David Sinton Ingalls | March 16, 1929 | June 1, 1932 | Herbert Hoover | Charles Francis Adams III |
| Name | Assumed office | Left office | President appointed by | Secretary served under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artemus Gates | September 5, 1941 | June 30, 1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Frank Knox, James Forrestal |
| John L. Sullivan | July 5, 1945 | June 17, 1946 | Harry S. Truman | James Forrestal |
| John N. Brown | January 12, 1946 | March 8, 1949 | Harry S. Truman | James Forrestal, John L. Sullivan |
| Dan A. Kimball | March 9, 1949 | May 24, 1949 | Harry S. Truman | John L. Sullivan |
| John F. Floberg | December 5, 1949 | July 23, 1953 | Harry S. Truman | Francis P. Matthews, Dan A. Kimball, Robert B. Anderson |
| James H. Smith, Jr. | July 23, 1953 | June 20, 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Robert B. Anderson, Charles Thomas |
| Garrison Norton | July 7, 1956 | February 5, 1959 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Charles Thomas, Thomas S. Gates, Jr. |
| Name | Assumed office | Left office | President appointed by | Secretary served under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James H. Wakelin, Jr. | June 5, 1959 | June 30, 1964 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | William B. Franke, John Connally, Fred Korth, Paul Nitze |
| Robert W. Morse | July 1, 1964 | June 30, 1966 | Lyndon B. Johnson | Paul Nitze |
| Robert A. Frosch | July 1, 1966 | January 20, 1973 | Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon | Paul Nitze, Paul Ignatius, John Chafee, John Warner |
| David S. Potter | September 14, 1973 | August 16, 1974 | Richard Nixon | John Warner, J. William Middendorf |
| H. Tyler Marcy | October 15, 1974 | April 4, 1977 | Gerald Ford | J. William Middendorf |
| Name | Assumed office | Left office | President appointed by | Secretary served under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| David E. Mann | April 1977 | January 1981 | Jimmy Carter | W. Graham Claytor, Jr., Edward Hidalgo |
| Gerald A. Cann | January 1981 | December 1981 | Ronald Reagan | John Lehman |
| Melvyn R. Paisley | December 1981 | March 1987 | Ronald Reagan | John Lehman |