WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is considering the creation of two new “czar” roles to take over major defense acquisition portfolios from the Navy and Air Force, in a move that would have them report directly to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg, multiple sources tell Breaking Defense.
While no final decisions have been made, a dozen sources from the Pentagon, industry and defense community say a proposal has been floated in which one czar would have oversight over the Navy’s submarine programs and another in charge of several high-profile Air Force projects.
According to sources, Vice Adm. Robert Gaucher, commander of naval submarine forces, is being eyed for the submarine role. Lt. Gen. Dale White, the Air Force’s military deputy for acquisition, is under consideration to be put in charge of an office managing programs like the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, the newly announced F-47 fighter jet and the beleaguered Sentinel ICBM — although sources said the scope of the portfolio has yet to be set in stone.
Spokespeople for the Navy and Gaucher declined to comment for this report, while the Air Force referred comment to OSD. A defense official, speaking on background, said, “No additional information has been released.”
The roles — known within the Pentagon as “direct report program managers” or DRPMs — seemingly follow the model that saw Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein receive a fourth star while being tapped to lead DoD’s Golden Dome efforts. Like Golden Dome, F-47 and shipbuilding are both defense priorities for the White House.
The Pentagon usually delegates program management jobs to field grade officers with one- and two-star generals or admirals overseeing them. But some exceptions do exist, such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, one of the department’s largest acquisition programs in both scale and cost. It’s led by either a three-star Navy, Marine Corps or Air Force officer.
Erik Raven, former undersecretary of the Navy during the Biden administration, said the Pentagon has a history of elevating senior officers to oversee its most consequential programs, citing the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle as one example.
“But elevating a position does not automatically cut through the Pentagon’s red tape,” he told Breaking Defense. “If not properly organized, the risk is of becoming another hurdle that adds to the bureaucracy, rather than reducing it.”
More Four-Star Admirals? Don’t Step On The CNO’s Toes
If the Pentagon moves forward with the sub office plan, as eight sources suggested, it could signal a major change for how the Navy oversees its shipbuilding enterprise — a system that has been under heavy scrutiny in recent years for allowing nearly all of its premiere programs to fall behind schedule.
Historically, the Navy’s shipbuilding offices consist of one- and two-star program executive officers, all of whom report to the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition. That job is currently performed in an acting capacity by Jason Potter, a retired Navy officer and longtime GOP congressional staffer who joined the Pentagon’s senior executive ranks earlier this year. The White House has not yet nominated anyone to hold the job permanently, but regardless, a new “czar” position could mean the PEOs report straight to the four-star, resulting in certain civilian officials being cut out of the chain.
Steven Wills, a naval historian and associate at the Center for Maritime Strategy, compared the new position to the former “Naval Materiel Command,” a once-powerful office terminated by then-Secretary John Lehman in the 1980s as a way to streamline the acquisition process.
The “long-term implication is what happens when you start introducing other powerful, four-star officers with acquisition responsibilities in the same swim lane as the [chief of naval operations],” he said of Gaucher’s potential new job.
Wills cited Adm. Hyman Rickover, a veritable US Navy legend credited with leading the development of nuclear propulsion, as one example. Although Rickover commanded Naval Reactors, rather than Naval Materiel Command, the admiral was often accused of stepping on the toes of the Navy’s uniformed leaders. There were “a number of CNOs who were really pissed off at Rickover because they thought he interfered in the acquisition process,” Wills said.
“The CNO is supposed to provide the requirements to the acquisition system in terms of what they want, but now you’ve got another four-star officer interpreting those requirements, potentially junior to the CNO,” he added. “So, it does start to really shake things up.”
The possibility of Gaucher’s promotion comes weeks after POLITICO reported the Pentagon was considering a separate plan to gut the three-star admiral positions overseeing each of the Navy’s systems commands, the agencies primarily responsible for the acquisition of ships, planes and other technologies. The new structure, if implemented, would go hand-in-hand with a push by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to cut the number of general officers.
Air Force: A Smorgasbord Of Programs
The exact scope of the Air Force office is more unsettled than the Navy plan, based on comments from five sources, with an assortment of some of the department’s worst and best-performing acquisitions potentially in the mix.
There is consensus that the Sentinel ICBM, which has struggled after cost projections for the effort skyrocketed by 81 percent and triggered a Nunn-McCurdy breach, is likely to be a focal point. However, other platforms appear likely to be included.
The portfolio could include advanced combat aircraft efforts like the sixth-generation F-47 fighter and the B-21 Raider bomber. Should the B-21 be included as part of the new czar’s portfolio, it could be pulled out from under its current management by the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office, a special office that oversees select technology priorities and is given additional acquisition authorities to ensure efforts stay on course.
In addition, it is possible that the Collaborative Combat Aircraft drone wingmen, as well as the service’s Air Force One recapitalization, could fall under this new role. The Trump administration intends to modify a Boeing 747 gifted by the Qataris into a third Air Force One plane in addition to procuring two new presidential transport aircraft from Boeing.
Michael Marrow contributed reporting to this story.
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