‘Alpha’ troops and more ships: Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao outlines vision for service

Acting SecNav: ‘I’m not going to have my son go to war the way I did'

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao made his first public remarks Tuesday as the civilian head of the Navy since the Pentagon announced Wednesday that John Phelan would be leaving the role he’d held for just about 13 months. Cao, a retired Navy explosive ordnance disposal officer and two-time candidate for Virginia congressional seats, appeared at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, D.C., in a time slot that Phelan had agreed to fill befo…

‘Alpha’ troops and more ships: Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao outlines vision for service

In one of his first public addresses as acting Navy secretary, Hung Cao said he didn't need "cross-dressers" or "leaf eaters" in the service.

Cao says industry needs to 'move forward' in first speech as acting SecNav

Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao delivered his first public remarks since stepping into the role.

Acting SECNAV signals need for new defense entrants, Golden Fleet and F/A-XX

Almost a week after the abrupt departure of Navy Secretary John Phelan, acting Secretary Hung Cao on Tuesday urged new companies to enter the defense industrial base and outlined early priorities for the service, including shipbuilding under the administration's "Golden Fleet" initiative. “Our Marines are doing amazing things down in Venezuela as well as in Iran,” he said today at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington. “Our industry par…

New Navy Secretary Hung Cao Takes Charge as Trump Fires Phelan Mid-Iran Blockade

The statement was made late on a Wednesday night in the kind of social media post that has grown to be the go-to source for unplanned Pentagon news. The principal spokesperson for the Defense Department, Sean Parnell, announced on X that Navy Secretary John C. Phelan would “departing the administration, effective immediately” and that Undersecretary Hung Cao would assume an acting role. No explanation was provided. No press conference. No timeli…