Trump taps Walden native as Chief Naval Officer

Posted 4/17/19

A Walden native has been nominated by President Trump to serve as Chief Naval Officer.Admiral William F Moran, 60, will have a fleet of 355 warships at his disposal if confirmed by the senate. …

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Trump taps Walden native as Chief Naval Officer

Posted

A Walden native has been nominated by President Trump to serve as Chief Naval Officer.

Admiral William F Moran, 60, will have a fleet of 355 warships at his disposal if confirmed by the senate. Confirmation is expected for the current Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

Moran, who graduated from Valley Central High School in 1977, is the son of Dr. William and Carol Moran. His father served as Valley Central Superintendent of Schools for nearly 20 years. Following his Valley Central graduation, he attended the U.S. Naval Academy, earning his commission in 1981 and aviator wings the following year.


As a pilot, his job was to hunt Soviet submarines. That crucial mission took him to Brunswick, Maine and then a long association with Florida — Jacksonville and nearby Naval Station Mayport, home to the famed aircraft carrier Forrestal.

From mid-1989 to late 1990, he served on board it as a Carrier Strike Group Six staffer, rising from his role as the admiral’s flag lieutenant to qualify as a Battle Group Tactical Watch Officer.

He got his initial immersion in personnel issues as a detailer at the Bureau of Naval Personnel between 1995 and 1998 but was chosen to command Patrol Squadron 46 and departed for Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.

He went on to command Hawaii-based Patrol Reconnaissance Wing 2 and Patrol and Reconnaissance Group in Virginia before becoming assuming administrative positions in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, then as Chief of Naval Personnel and VCNO. If confirmed, Moran will be the first of the nine aviators who became CNO who never rose through the ranks of carrier-based commands.

Moran, in a prepared statement, told Navy Times that he was “honored and deeply humbled by the nomination and looked forward to working with Congress during the confirmation process.”

Navy officials, in a Navy Times article published Friday, praised Moran’s leadership and supported his nomination. As the Navy’s top personnel officer from 2013 to 2016, he initiated many reforms, including the “Sailor 2025” program which sought to modernize the Navy’s entire personnel system and training process and also change the culture of the sea service to embrace flexibility, reward merit and scrap broad purges of sailors like the despised Enlisted Retention Board. He also fought to increase career sea pay and successfully lobbied the Armed Services Committee for an increase in spending for aircraft and shipbuilding procurement and more funding for maintenance.

Retired Adm. William “Shortney” Gortney told Navy Times he’s happy to see another flyer in the Navy’s top spot but insists Moran is really just the best candidate for the gig.

“I don’t want to spoil it, but I will predict he will be one of the great CNOs as well,” Gortney said.