Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday speaks to Sailors on the cruiser USS Shiloh.
WASHINGTON: The Navy’s recent practice of refusing to issue public announcements about the promotion of admirals to new posts has drawn the attention of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who wants to know why the service continues to ignore the law requiring they be made public.
The Navy is the only service not to inform the public of the promotions of its top uniformed leaders, a practice put in place by former CNO Adm. John Richardson, and continued under Adm. Mike Gilday. The refusal ignores Section 510A of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act — written by Warren, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee — requiring all services to announce promotions of its top generals and admirals online.
In her letter, obtained by Breaking Defense, Warren told Gilday, “Navy flag officers are not undercover intelligence case officers. They occupy positions of public trust, in many cases responsible for the lives of thousands of sailors. The public has a right to know which officers the Navy believes should be given billets with such important responsibilities.”
Warren’s provision came in response to Richardson’s explanation last year that he was worried announcing promotions would put the commanders at risk of cyber attacks. None of the other armed services, or the civilian leadership of the Pentagon, appears to share those concerns.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Capt. Buzz Donnelly, commanding officer of USS Ronald Reagan.
“I think that information will get out eventually,” Richardson told reporters last year while dismissing concerns over transparency. “I suppose I’d say there’s always a tension between transparency and security,” but “our force knows where our flags are going.”
The decision has stirred some dissent within the Navy, as some officers have expressed frustration with the lack of transparency, questioning the point of withholding information that every other office in the Pentagon routinely makes public.
The provision in the 2020 NDAA states the armed services “shall make available on an internet website of such department available to the public a notice of such assignment or reassignment.”
Even with that law in place, the Navy has continued to insist on secrecy.
Last month, USNI reported that 30 flag officers were confirmed by the Senate on March 20 without any public notice.
The move was surprising not for the volume, but the nature of the top level positions being filled which would normally be celebrated openly. New leaders for high-profile Navy commands in Europe, the Atlantic, and the Middle East were on the list, as well as a new leader of Navy intelligence activities, and the head of the surface force development arm.
The Navy has yet to publicly acknowledge any of the nominations, which included current Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Robert Burke heading to lead the high-profile Naval Forces Europe. Burke recently led the investigation into the firing of Capt. Brett Crozier, commander of the COVID-19 stricken USS Teddy Roosevelt. The controversial move by then-Navy Secretary Thomas Modly, who was asked to resign over his handling of the incident by Esper, has roiled the Navy and called into question how uniformed leaders handled the situation. As of Friday, 655 sailors aboard the ship have tested positive for the virus.
Richardson’s decision came amid a wider erosion of transparency under then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who curtailed press outreach and clamped down on publicly-released information. Things have loosened up somewhat under Defense Secretary Mark Esper, with more on camera press conferences and formal and informal briefings at the Pentagon.
“The argument has zero credibility,” said a former senior Navy official who requested anonymity to speak. “It’s not like that information wasn’t publicly available” when the Senate reports nominations. “The entire argument that this is somehow a measure to defend the cyber security of recent appointees is without merit whatsoever, it flies in the face of not only current practices, but the Navy’s responsibility to the American people,” to be transparent, and hold officials accountable to the public, the official said.
One Senate staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said some lawmakers read Warren’s provision as not taking effect until the promoted officer actually assumes their new position.
Asked for a response to Warren’s letter, Navy officials would only confirm that Gilday would respond. Warren asked for a reply by May 4.
“Although I appreciate the security concerns and understand the need for all officers to maintain cyber awareness,” Warren wrote, “the Navy never provided a sufficient justification for restricting public access to this information. For example, the Army and Air Force continue to release this information to the public.”