1 month ago
The acting navy secretary, Hung Cao, who steps into nan domiciled aft nan abrupt departure of John Phelan, is simply a seasoned naval serviceman and erstwhile exile who earned a position pinch nan Trump administration pinch campaigns for governmental agency successful Virginia marked by belief intolerance.
When Cao was first appointed, nan defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, group him to modernizing guidelines infrastructure and quality-of-life issues for sailors and marines, and to raise recruiting standards. Cao has besides been a constituent personification successful nan management connected permitting vaccine refusal and eliminating “DEI” policies successful nan military.
He has been sharply outspoken astir nan military’s recruiting practices, saying successful a statement pinch Tim Kaine erstwhile he ran against him for Senate successful 2024 that nan subject should beryllium recruiting “alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip retired their ain guts, eat them, and inquire for seconds”.
At his confirmation hearing, Cao described an craft bearer arsenic “99,000 tons of American diplomacy” but noted that nan readiness of ships hovered astir 60%, which he described arsenic “horrid” readiness.
Asked astir his views connected really to either usage nan existing fleet aliases to modulation to a caller paradigm for naval warfare, Cao said that nan subject was surviving each time for illustration it was 10 September 2001, and that nan state must accelerate shipbuilding while improving exertion truthful that it tin conclusion hypersonic missiles and different threats.
“We request to rethink naval warfare,” Cao said past June. “We request to beryllium fresh for what happens tomorrow.”
Cao ran doubly for national agency arsenic a Republican campaigner successful Virginia, falling to US typical Jennifer Wexton successful a House title successful Virginia’s bluish suburbs successful 2022, past to Senator Tim Kaine successful 2024.
Cao’s comments successful an question and reply astir Monterey being taken complete by “witches” and a joke astir being “African American” because he lived successful Africa arsenic a kid became a run issue. Cao expressed support for a nationalist abortion prohibition arsenic a candidate.
Cao, 55, fled Vietnam pinch his family erstwhile he was 4 years old. He lived successful Niger arsenic a kid while his begetter worked for USAID. Cao enlisted successful nan navy successful 1989 earlier graduating from nan US Naval Academy and earning a committee arsenic a typical operations officer.
He served connected progressive work arsenic a diver and explosive ordnance technician pinch deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, notably starring nan squad that recovered nan assemblage of John F Kennedy Jr disconnected nan seashore of Martha’s Vineyard. Cao was conception caput for nan fund programming section successful nan agency of nan main of naval operations earlier retiring arsenic a skipper successful 2021. He has a master’s grade successful applied physics from nan Naval Postgraduate School successful Monterey, California, and completed fellowships astatine MIT and Harvard.
“I came to this state pinch nothing, arsenic a refugee,” Cao said successful consequence to a mobility during his confirmation proceeding arsenic undersecretary of nan navy. “We grew up successful Africa, actually. In 1979, erstwhile nan Shah of Iran was overthrown, nan marines brought america into nan embassy and stood watch complete america successful lawsuit they had to do an removal … I wanted to beryllium for illustration those heroes, truthful I person dedicated my full life to serving nan military.”
Cao’s boy graduates this twelvemonth from nan US Naval Academy.
