With Three Nuclear Powered Aircraft Carrier Strike Groups Near or Heading Towards Iran, Trump Nominates a Submariner as CNO.
President Trump has chosen Adm. Daryl Caudle as the next chief of naval operations, nearly four months after firing Adm. Lisa Franchetti with no explanation.
Caudle, the head of U.S. Fleet Forces in Norfolk, Va., would replace Adm. James Kilby, the vice chief of naval operations who stepped in to serve as the acting chief of naval operations in February.
The Senate Armed Services Committee received the nomination Tuesday.
Caudle, a career submariner from North Carolina, has been head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command since December 2021 and also has held leadership positions with Submarine Forces, Submarine Force Atlantic, and Allied Submarine Command.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5358063-trump-nominates-adm-caudle-chief-naval/
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A peculiar choice, given current tensions with Iran.
Admiral Lisa Franchetti was a carrier admiral.
Some of her past assignments included:
commander, U.S. 6th Fleet
commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO
commander, Carrier Strike Group 15
commander, Carrier Strike Group 9
commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea.
Although a surface warfare officer, her predecessor Admiral Mike Gilday:
sea combat commander for the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group.
commander, Carrier Strike Group 8
If confirmed as CNO, Caudle would be in a position to shape the fate of high-tech initiatives such as Project 33, which aims to accelerate the fielding of robotic platforms and AI enablers to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.
“The right way, in my opinion, to think about robotic autonomous systems, uncrewed, unmanned systems, is how we package them to solve our problems and where they are best-suited,” Caudle said in January at the annual Surface Navy Association symposium. “They can be best-suited where the acceptable level of risk of loss of life is too high, the depth of water too shallow, the air domain too complicated, [or] the mission is just not worth a manned combatant.”
He’s also advocated for accelerating the fielding of new weapons to shoot down one-way attack drones instead of expending expensive munitions for that task.
At the SNA symposium, Caudle said the Navy should be “embarrassed” that it hasn’t fielded directed energy systems, such as high-energy lasers, faster.
https://defensescoop.com/2025/06/18/trump-nominates-adm-caudle-chief-of-naval-operations-cno/
Caudle, the head of U.S. Fleet Forces in Norfolk, Va., would replace Adm. James Kilby, the vice chief of naval operations who stepped in to serve as the acting chief of naval operations in February.
The Senate Armed Services Committee received the nomination Tuesday.
Caudle, a career submariner from North Carolina, has been head of U.S. Fleet Forces Command since December 2021 and also has held leadership positions with Submarine Forces, Submarine Force Atlantic, and Allied Submarine Command.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5358063-trump-nominates-adm-caudle-chief-naval/
---
A peculiar choice, given current tensions with Iran.
Admiral Lisa Franchetti was a carrier admiral.
Some of her past assignments included:
commander, U.S. 6th Fleet
commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO
commander, Carrier Strike Group 15
commander, Carrier Strike Group 9
commander, U.S. Naval Forces Korea.
Although a surface warfare officer, her predecessor Admiral Mike Gilday:
sea combat commander for the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group.
commander, Carrier Strike Group 8
If confirmed as CNO, Caudle would be in a position to shape the fate of high-tech initiatives such as Project 33, which aims to accelerate the fielding of robotic platforms and AI enablers to deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.
“The right way, in my opinion, to think about robotic autonomous systems, uncrewed, unmanned systems, is how we package them to solve our problems and where they are best-suited,” Caudle said in January at the annual Surface Navy Association symposium. “They can be best-suited where the acceptable level of risk of loss of life is too high, the depth of water too shallow, the air domain too complicated, [or] the mission is just not worth a manned combatant.”
He’s also advocated for accelerating the fielding of new weapons to shoot down one-way attack drones instead of expending expensive munitions for that task.
At the SNA symposium, Caudle said the Navy should be “embarrassed” that it hasn’t fielded directed energy systems, such as high-energy lasers, faster.
https://defensescoop.com/2025/06/18/trump-nominates-adm-caudle-chief-of-naval-operations-cno/
36-40, FVIP
