President Obama has nominated a new Director for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) James Syring, who also would be appointed to the rank of vice admiral, effectively receiving a two-star promotion, if confirmed by the Senate.
With Senate approval, Syring would become the first Navy officer to lead the agency, which has seen five Air Force lieutenant generals, a civilian and two Army lieutenant generals–including current MDA director, Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly–in its 28-year history. O’Reilly’s management style was recently excoriated in an Inspector General’s report cited in several media reports.
Syring currently serves as program executive officer for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS) in Washington, D.C. He attained flag rank in 2010. As PEO IWS, Syring is responsible for acquiring, developing, delivering and sustaining integrated weapons systems for ships, submarines, carriers and aircraft within the fleet and joint force, his official biography states.
Syring would bring a skill set that would mesh well with MDA activities: ship superintendent for USS Port Royal (CG 73); Aegis test officer for new construction DDG 51 class ships; Combat Systems, Test and Trials officer in the DDG 51 Aegis Shipbuilding Program Office; and Combat Systems Baseline manager in the Aegis Technical Division.
MDA requested $7.75 billion in fiscal year 2013 to continue developing protective systems for the nation, military, allies and partners against increasingly capable ballistic missiles, to include a test by Iran last week of a short-range missile. MDA is integrating sensors, fire control, battle management, and interceptor systems to take meld individual missile defense projects into a Ballistic Missile Defense System. Among the agency’s priorities are increasingly complex tests, to include more systems, return the Ground Based Interceptor to flight, implement Aegis upgrades and increase the numbers of ships with ballistic missile defense capability. The agency also plans to continue development of the SM-3 Block IIB missile to create another layer of intercept opportunity for homeland defense, and work on Aegis Ashore in Romania part of the implementation of the president’s European Phased Adaptive Approach.
A Naval Academy graduate, Syring was designated an engineering duty officer. He also has a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Naval Post Graduate School.