Aldridge Sworn in as Defense Acquisition Adviser

Edward "Pete" Aldridge Jr. was sworn in May 14 as the Defense Department's new undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics. He will advise Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on all weapons and material purchases, including technology systems required by warfighters.


Before taking over his post at Defense, Aldridge was chief executive officer of Aerospace Corp., a nonprofit organization in El Segundo, Calif., that studies ways to solve problems using science and technology.


This will be his second stint at the Defense Department. He spent two years as secretary of the Air Force in the mid-1980s. Also during the '80s, Aldridge was an astronaut-in-training as a payload specialist on the first planned mission from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. He never made it into space, however, because NASA canceled the mission after the Challenger accident.


Before he joined Aerospace, Aldridge was president of McDonnell Douglas Electronic Systems from 1988 through 1992. He has a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from Texas A&M University and a master's in aeronautical engineering from Georgia Tech.