WASHINGTON – The White House is expected to nominate soon its choices for secretary of the Navy and secretary of the Army, as well as the Army undersecretary spot.
A source in the administration tells Defense News the names will be released "very soon," perhaps on Friday afternoon or over the weekend.
As was first reported by Military Times, the Army secretary spot will be offered to former Army flight surgeon and Tennessee state Sen. Mark Green. His undersecretary is expected to be Ryan McCarthy, a former Army Ranger, staffer for former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates, and now a vice president for Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor.
For Navy, the nominee will be Richard V. Spencer, a former Marine aviator who serves as the head of Fall Creek Management, LLC, the administration source confirmed. McCarthy’s nomination was first reported by the Wall Street Journal; Spencer’s by Bloomberg.
Green, best known as the special operations soldier who interviewed former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein after his capture by American forces in 2003, was elected to state office in 2012 and for the last seven years has served as founder and CEO of Align MD, an emergency department staffing company. The firm operates in 30 hospitals in six states.
He’s also active in a pair of military focused charities — Soldiers and Families Embraced and Reboot for Recovery — as well as the middle Tennessee chapter of the Boy Scouts of America
McCarthy, who has served a variety of jobs with Lockheed, including time on the F-35 joint strike fighter program, carved out a reputation as one of Gates’ operatives inside the Pentagon, according to a former defense official who asked to speak on background.
"Gates had a small group of folks in his front office who were his enforcers in the building, and Ryan was one of those guys," the former official said. "It’s a good choice for the Army. It will require him stepping up in a big way, but at least he knows the Army."
Spencer is a former member of the Pentagon’s Defense Business Board and has worked in a number of financial sector jobs. He currently serves on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel.
Green and Spencer represent the second attempt of the Trump administration to fill those spots. Stringent requirements against conflicts of interest led Army secretary nominee Vincent Viola, a billionaire Army veteran, and Navy secretary pick Philip Bilden, a Hong Kong-based financier, to drop out after being nominated.
Former congresswoman Heather Wilson, Trump’s pick for Air Force secretary, appeared before the Senate on Thursday. While she faced questions about allegations that she had lobbied illegally and received pay with no record of work on behalf of nuclear contractors, Wilson is expected to be confirmed.
The three men would join Wilson and six other nominees, all announced March 16, in the pipeline for top spots at the Pentagon, in what will be a welcome change of affairs from the Hill’s point of view. Members of Congress have expressed frustration with the pace of nominees for the Pentagon.
Coincidentally, the White House announced today that Mira Ricardel would be the nominee for undersecretary of Commerce for Export Administration. Ricardel was a top Trump defense adviser during the campaign and served on the transition before landing a role vetting potential Pentagon nominees, a spot that saw her clash repeatedly with Mattis.
Defense News reporter Joe Gould and Military Times reporter Leo Shane III contributed to this report.
Aaron Mehta was deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, covering policy, strategy and acquisition at the highest levels of the Defense Department and its international partners.
