Meeting with Air Force officers from around the world and helping shape U.S. military and international policy was not on Brig. Gen. David Chauvin’s career bingo card when he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1998, but the commander of the Nevada Air National Guard is certainly excited and humbled by the opportunity.
Earlier this spring, Chauvin, Nevada Assistant Adjutant General-Air, was named the Air National Guard Assistant to the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs.
“Having been all over the world in the military, I’m looking forward to applying what I’ve learned through time served in the logistics arena and on deployments,” said Chauvin, who fills the two-year dual hatted role at the Pentagon. “It’s new and exciting. It’s a tremendous learning opportunity. I’m very grateful.”
In his role, Chauvin will support and at times backfill the presidentially appointed International Affairs Principals, Gentry Stephens, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs, and Maj. Gen. Ricky Mills, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs. The international affairs team provides oversight and guidance for U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force international policy, programs and engagements in support of national security objectives. As leader of the security cooperation enterprise for the Department of the Air Force, Stephens oversees the planning and accelerated execution of about $55 billion in annual equipping, training and support of allies and partners, “further facilitating strategic burden shifting and burden sharing through education, exercises, personnel exchanges, agreements, engagements and advocacy for the U.S. defense industrial base,” according to his [official bio available online](https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/4375997/gentry-b-stephens/).
“A big part of this is maintaining relationships with our partner nations,” Chauvin said. “Each country has an air force attaché. To build and foster these relationships, we must work with them to understand their most pressing issues and how we can assist and facilitate their needs to enhance global security cooperation.”
In one of his first assignments this June, Chauvin will lead a meeting at the Nellis Air Force Base Warfare Center with more than 50 partner nations. He spent last week at the Pentagon, sitting in meetings with the team and understanding his new role.
Chauvin will remain the commander of the Nevada Air National Guard. He is the third Nevada Air National Guardsman in the organization’s recent history to hold a dual-hatted position at the Pentagon. Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry held the position of Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Manpower and Reserve Affairs (2015-2018), and Maj. Gen. Shanna Woyak (2018-2021) served as Air National Guard Assistant to the Chief of the Nurse Corps, Office of the Surgeon General.
“I want to build on the momentum that both Maj. Gen. Berry and Maj. Gen. Woyak set as far as Nevada Guardsmen going to the Pentagon and proving our value to the U.S. Air Force,” said Chauvin, who is also a Southwest Airlines captain in his civilian career.
For Chauvin — born in Franklin, Louisiana, graduate of Louisiana State University — it’s another step in his successful Air Force career. He was commissioned in 1999 and flew as a C-5 pilot in active duty. He also qualified as a T-37 pilot before becoming a C-130 pilot with the Nevada Air National Guard in 2008.
“We do so much here in the Nevada Air National Guard,” Chauvin said. “Of course, I look forward to succeeding at this role, but I also hope it can help open the door for future Nevada Air National Guard senior leaders in the Pentagon.”