Biden taps tech CEO, former destroyer commander to lead Navy
President Biden will nominate Carlos Del Toro, a Cuban-born Navy veteran who runs a small IT firm in Virginia, to be secretary of the Navy, the White House announced Friday. If confirmed, Del Toro would be the second Latino Navy secretary, after Eduardo Hidalgo in the Carter administration. Born in Havana, Del Toro and his family immigrated to the United States in 1962, and he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1983.
His 22-year Navy career included becoming the commissioning commanding officer of the USS Bulkeley destroyer in 1998, as well as deploying to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. He later served in several senior-level appointments at the Pentagon, working on issues including budgeting, acquisition, space and legislation.
The Navy has been struggling to meet congressional demands for at least a 355-ship fleet, and strains on the fleet have shown in cases such as moving the Japan-based USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier to the Middle East to help provide cover during the Afghanistan withdrawal, leaving the supposed priority theater of the Pacific temporarily without a carrier presence.
Amid expectations budgets will stay relatively flat over the next few years, the service has also been grappling with how to approach costly modernization plans that call for next-generation fighter jets, destroyers or submarines.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/558045-biden-taps-tech-ceo-former-destroyer-commander-to-lead-navy
