By Geoff Fein
President Obama yesterday announced his intention to nominate Robert Work, a former Marine colonel and aide to then-Navy Secretary Richard Danzig, for Under Secretary of the Navy.
Work is currently vice president, strategic studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Obama recently announced his intention to nominate Ray Mabus as Navy Secretary (Defense Daily, March 30).
Work, who served 27 years in the Marines, recently served on Obama’s transition team for the Navy and Marine Corps.
Earlier this year, Work unveiled a shipbuilding report with proposed changes to the Navy’s long-term plans. Recommendations for the service include: reducing the fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to 12 vessels and beginning design work on the SSBN(X) as soon as possible; slowing the production rate of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers; delaying the start of the CG(X) cruiser by at least four years; canceling current plans for the future maritime propositioning force (MPF); ending the DDG-1000 destroyer line after three ships; buying 11 more DDG-51 destroyers; and building more Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) than the 55 planned (Defense Daily, Feb. 18).
Additionally, he proposed offering the sea frame free to our international partners with the caveat that they pay for the LCS mission packages they want. Not only would it keep production lines for the ship operating, but it would build partnership capacity, he said in March (Defense Daily, March 20).