Fincantieri Marinette Marine announced it added several former Navy leaders this month, most recently former Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Gary Roughead was elected chairman of the board of directors on July 10, the company said last week.
Roughead served as the 29th CNO from 2007 to 2011.
“I am pleased to join the Fincantieri Marinette Marine team. We have one of the most modern U.S. shipyards, the commitment and drive to innovate in building ships to meet tomorrow’s defense needs, and, above all a top-notch Midwestern workforce that epitomizes the industriousness of the American heartland,” Roughead said in a statement.
The company’s Marinette, Wis., shipyard produces Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ships under prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT] and is under contract to build four Multi-Mission Surface Combatants for Saudi Arabia, basedo on the LCS design. The company is also competing in the Navy’s new guided missile frigate, FFG(X), program.
“Fincantieri is both honored and pleased to have Admiral Roughead join this board in a leadership role. His naval and defense expertise is unquestioned and few can bring his depth of leadership and management skills to an organization,” Dario Deste, CEO of the Fincantieri Marine Group, added.
Roughead currently also serves as the Robert and Marion Oster Distinguished Military Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and is on the board of directors at Northrop Grumman [NOC].
Before becoming CNO, Roughead served as commander of both the U.S. Pacific Fleet and U.S. Fleet Forces Command in the Atlantic, Commandant of the Naval Academy, and the Navy’s Chief of Legislative Affairs.
Last year, Roughead was co-chair of the congressionally mandated Commission On The National Defense Strategy (Defense Daily, Nov. 27, 2018). The previous year, Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer selected Roughead to co-lead the Strategic Readiness Review team to see what overall factors led to the 2017 deadly naval mishaps and gave recommendations to prevent future mishaps (Defense Daily, Dec. 14, 2017).
Relatedly, Fincantieri said former Rear Adm. Kevin Sweeney, former chief of staff to Secretary of Defense James Mattis, also joined the board. Sweeney retired in 2014 after serving for 32 years and returned to the Department to serve under Mattis after working in the private sector.
These additions come a week after Fincantieri Marine’s board named retired Vice Adm. Richard Hunt as president of the Marinette shipyard. Hunt served as Director of the Navy Staff at the Pentagon until he retired in 2013. He earlier served as Commander of the Third Fleet and Commander of Surface Forces in the Pacific Fleet.
After retiring, Hunt served as Raytheon’s [RTN] vice president of U.S. business development before being named chief strategy officer at Fincantieri in April 2018.
Hunt succeeded Jan Allman as president, but she remains as the Marinette CEO.
Deste said Hunt will focus on expanding the shipyard’s capacity and capabilities while “building common understanding with government customers.”
“Rick is the consummate professional who cares deeply for the U.S. Navy and their future capabilities,” Deste added.