United States Under Secretary of the Navy explained

Post:United States
Under Secretary of the Navy
Flag:US-UnderSecretaryOfTheNavy-Flag.svg
Flagcaption:Flag of the Under Secretary of the Navy
Flagsize:180
Insignia:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg
Insigniasize:120
Insigniacaption:Seal of the Department of the Navy
Department:Department of the Navy
Incumbent:Erik Raven
Incumbentsince:April 13, 2022
Termlength:No fixed term
Style:Mr. Under Secretary
The Honorable
(formal address in writing)
Seat:The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, United States
Nominator:The President with Senate advice and consent
Succession:17th in SecDef succession by seniority of appointment
Formation:August 22, 1940
First:James Forrestal
Deputy:Deputy Under Secretary of the Navy
Salary:Executive Schedule, Level III
Reports To:Secretary of the Navy

The Under Secretary of the Navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The Under Secretary, called the "Under" in Pentagon slang, reports to the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). Before the creation of the Under Secretary's office, the second-highest civilian at the Department of the Navy was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

The current Under Secretary of the Navy is Erik Raven.

List of Under Secretaries of the Navy, 1940–present

The following men and women have held the post:[1]

No.NameAssumed officeLeft officePresident appointed bySecretary served under
1James V. ForrestalAugust 22, 1940 May 16, 1944Franklin D. RooseveltFrank Knox
2Ralph A. BardJune 24, 1944 June 30, 1945James Forrestal
3Artemus GatesJuly 3, 1945 December 31, 1945Harry S. Truman
4John L. SullivanJune 17, 1946 September 18, 1947
5W. John KenneySeptember 19, 1947 September 24, 1949John L. Sullivan
6Dan A. KimballMay 25, 1949July 31, 1951Francis P. Matthews
7Francis P. WhitehairAugust 7, 1951January 29, 1953Dan A. Kimball
8Charles S. ThomasFebruary 9, 1953August 5, 1953Dwight D. EisenhowerRobert B. Anderson
9Thomas S. Gates Jr.October 7, 1953April 1, 1957Robert B. Anderson
Charles Thomas
10William B. FrankeApril 17, 1957June 7, 1959Thomas S. Gates Jr.
11Fred A. BantzJune 8, 1959January 20, 1961William B. Franke
12Paul B. FayFebruary 16, 1961January 15, 1965John F. KennedyJohn Connally
Fred Korth
Paul Nitze
13Kenneth E. BeLieuFebruary 26, 1965July 1, 1965Lyndon B. JohnsonPaul Nitze
14Robert H. B. BaldwinJuly 2, 1965July 31, 1967
15Charles F. BairdAugust 1, 1967 January 20, 1969Paul Robert Ignatius
16John WarnerFebruary 11, 1969May 4, 1972Richard NixonJohn Chafee
17Frank P. SandersMay 5, 1972June 29, 1973John Warner
18J. William MiddendorfAugust 3, 1973June 20, 1974
19David S. PotterAugust 28, 1974April 1, 1976Gerald FordJ. William Middendorf
20David R. MacdonaldSeptember 14, 1976February 4, 1977
21R. James Woolsey Jr.March 9, 1977December 7, 1979Jimmy CarterW. Graham Claytor Jr.
22Robert J. MurrayFebruary 7, 1980September 29, 1981Edward Hidalgo
John Lehman
23James F. GoodrichSeptember 29, 1981August 6, 1987Ronald ReaganJohn Lehman
24Henry L. Garrett IIIAugust 6, 1987May 15, 1989Jim Webb
William L. Ball
25J. Daniel HowardAugust 7, 1989January 20, 1993George H. W. BushHenry L. Garrett III
Sean O'Keefe
26Richard J. DanzigNovember 29, 1993May 30, 1997Bill ClintonJohn Howard Dalton
27Jerry MacArthur HultinNovember 13, 1997July 14, 2000John Howard Dalton
Richard Danzig
28Robert B. Pirie Jr.October 12, 2000June 6, 2001Richard Danzig
29Susan M. LivingstoneJuly 26, 2001February 28, 2003George W. BushGordon R. England
30Dionel M. AvilesOctober 8, 2004May 19, 2009[2] Gordon R. England
Donald C. Winter
31Robert O. WorkMay 19, 2009March 22, 2013Barack ObamaRay Mabus
32Janine A. DavidsonMarch 17, 2016January 20, 2017
Thomas P. Dee (acting)February 17, 2017[3] December 4, 2017Donald TrumpRichard V. Spencer
33Thomas B. ModlyDecember 4, 2017April 7, 2020[4] [5]
Gregory J. Slavonic (acting)April 24, 2020January 20, 2021James E. McPherson (acting)
Kenneth J. Braithwaite
James F. Geurts (acting)February 4, 2021August 24, 2021Joe BidenThomas Harker (acting)
Meredith A. Berger
(Performing the Duties of)
August 25, 2021April 13, 2022Carlos Del Toro
34Erik RavenApril 13, 2022Incumbent

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Official U.S. Navy web page . 2008-10-29 . bot: unknown . https://web.archive.org/web/20060724070549/http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/people/undersec/undersecnavs.html . July 24, 2006 . .
  2. Web site: Undersecretary of Navy resigns to take new job.
  3. Web site: Navy.mil Leadership Biographies. America's Navy. 2 November 2017.
  4. Web site: United States Navy biographies . . November 25, 2019 . 7 April 2020.
  5. Web site: United States Navy biography (Under Secretary of the Navy) . . November 25, 2019 . 7 April 2020.