Lots of Fresh Faces in Shipbuilding

As part of regular command rotations, Vice Admiral Paul E. Sullivan is expected to be relieved by Rear Admiral Kevin M. McCoy on Friday. We had previously discussed his nomination back in May.

Take a look around Navy acquisition and you might see some fresh faces. We talked about Rear Adm. William E. Landay III yesterday, and one could also point to Rear Adm. Thomas J. Eccles who is taking over Rear Admiral Kevin M. McCoy's old job. These assignments have been coming, and this change of command is part of regular rotations.

It is worth noting that everyone who has been running the acquisition process has moved on to other duties.

We like the assignment of Admiral McCoy for a number of reasons, but it starts by highlighting that if you look through all the public statements on the nuclear issue for surface combatants, Admiral McCoy is the smartest guy talking. He gives the pros, he gives the cons, and he gives everyone something to think about. We also note the Navy has put a submariner in charge of NAVSEA.

While this appointment doesn't signal anything specific, it is clear Admiral Roughead is "stacking his deck" so to say. NAVSEA is a self contained little world of engineers inside the Navy; it never hurts when the guy who always sounds smart when talking is also the boss.

As observers we can't say that has always been the case...