Readiness starts at “the foundry”—the U.S. Navy’s shipyards, training centers, shore facilities, weapons production lines, and logistics networks—the incoming chief of naval operations said Monday at the Washington Navy Yard.
“For too long, we’ve treated this interconnected network of force generation as background noise. No longer,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle as he assumed command as the 34th chief of naval operations Monday morning. “From reducing maintenance delays to ensuring spare parts and ordnance flow on time, the foundry will become the engine of naval dominance.”
Caudle most recently led the Navy’s Fleet Forces Command, where the term has been in use for some time. He was not referring, a spokesman confirmed, to the Navy team that is developing the future Integrated Combat System, a new architecture for warship software and systems, inside the Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems.
At the ceremony, Caudle reiterated themes from his confirmation hearing: he stressed shipbuilding and denounced delays with new ships and scheduled repairs on older ones.
“By the time my tenure ends, I want to be judged by the results we achieve together, plain and simple: platforms delivered and repaired on time; fully manned and combat-ready ships; ordnance production meeting contracted demand; backlogs in repair parts eliminated; sailors trained to the highest levels of mastery,” he said.
Caudle also repeated a Trump administration slogan that is itself a throwback to the Reagan administration.
“With battle-ready sailors at the helm, our platforms and systems are brought to life, empowering our fleet to project power and deter conflict through extraordinary mobility, persistent presence, and global reach—causing our adversaries to think twice. Peace through strength works,” he said.
Caudle’s comments come after the White House ordered the deployment of several warships to Venezuela, including Navy missile destroyers, at least one attack submarine, and about 4,000 marines as part of an Amphibious Ready Group to the region, as part of a push to deter drug cartels in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In introductory remarks, Navy Secretary John Phelan praised Caudle’s leadership, while emphasizing the duo’s mission for change.
The Navy must act urgently and “move away” from “traditions that stifle innovation,” Phelan said. “Together, Adm. Caudle and I clearly see the challenges before us: decaying shipyards, inadequate maintenance, enormous cost overruns, delayed delivery and repair base and a requirements process that has become undisciplined and detached from the acquisitions process.”
But to implement real changes, Phelan continued, the Navy must challenge traditions.
“For an institution to change, it needs to separate mission from tradition. Mission should never be tinkered with. Tradition needs to be constantly interrogated. It is far more likely an unpredictable event is the most predictable thing one can say about the future. How the Department of the Navy prepares for that in terms of capabilities and structures, is the greatest challenge we face,” Phelan said.
The audience at the Navy Yard included several former CNOs, including Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who was fired without explanation in February along with several other senior military leaders. Franchetti, the first woman to serve as CNO, served just 15 months in the role.
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