Scott Gration to Be NASA Administrator, Report Suggests

Retired Major General Scott Gration has reportedly been picked to be NASA Administrator. Gration's experience in space matters consists of a year as a White House fellow working for then Deputy Administrator Hans Mark in the early 1980s.

Scott Gration's career in the Air Force started in 1974 when he joined after taking a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Rutgers University. Scott Gration, who grew up in the Congo as the son of missionary parents, served in Kenya as a flight instructor in 1980. After his stint as a White House Fellow, Scott Gration served in a variety of military posts. Scott Gration was in command of the 4404 Operations Group (Provisional) in Saudi Arabia when the Khobar Towers were bombed in 1996. Scott Gration commanded the 39^th Wing in Turkey and oversaw the northern No Fly Zone over Iraq.

Scott Gration was Deputy Director for Operations (J-39, responsible for civil-military operations) in the Joint Staff in 2001. Hence, Scott Gration was present at the Pentagon when it was attacked on 9/11. Scott Gration commanded Joint Task Force-West during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Scott Gration met Barack Obama during a fact finding tour by the latter as a Senator in Africa in 2006. So impressed was Scott Gration that he switched his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat and endorsed Obama for President. Scott Gration has since served as Obama as a campaign surrogate and policy advisor.

Despite a distinguished Air Force career, Scott Gration qualifications to be NASA Administrator are not entirely clear. It is true that Scott Gration has an engineering degree, has experience in leading large organizations, and has the ear of the President-Elect. And it is also true that being a space neophyte is not necessarily an impediment for the job. Jim Webb and Sean O'Keefe were both NASA outsiders and were considered effective NASA Administrators during their terms in that job. Nevertheless Scott Gration's experience and training would suggest that he would be more suited for a military or diplomatic post, probably having to do with Africa.

Scott Gration's opinions on space policy issues, including the exploration initiative and space commercialization, are currently unknown. It is possible that as NASA Administrator, Scott Gration will have little input into space policy decisions by the nascent Obama administration and will just be tasked with implementing decisions made above his pay grade. What those decisions might be are still unknown and are likely still works in progress as of this writing.

Source: Obama Asks Retired Air Force General to Run NASA, Brian Berger and Becky Tannotta, Space.Com, January 13th, 2009