WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Admiral Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy, a move that will break the gender barrier in the U.S. military by making her the first woman to command the Navy and become a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Biden’s decision is surprising. Pentagon officials had widely expected the nomination to go to Admiral Samuel Paparo, who heads the Pacific Fleet and has experience dealing with a growing challenge from China.
However, Franchetti, currently the deputy chief of staff for Army operations, was among the candidates believed to be in the running for the post.
In the statement, Biden noted Franchetti’s 38 years of experience.
“Throughout her career, Admiral Franchetti has demonstrated a great deal of expertise in the fields of operations and policy,” Biden said in a statement, noting that she was the second woman ever to earn the rank of four-star in the US Navy.
Franchetti is not the first woman to head a US military department. Last year, Biden chose Admiral Linda Fagan to lead the US Coast Guard.
But the coast guard is not part of the Department of Defense (DoD), and instead falls under the Department of Homeland Security. Franchetti would be the first woman to lead a military service in the DoD as its head.
(Reporting by Steve Holland, Phil Stewart and Jasper Ward; Writing by Phil Stewart and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Sharon Singleton)
Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.
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