The White House has nominated the next admiral to oversee shipbuilding and repair, the next Air Boss and the next admiral in charge of naval education, the Department of Defense announced this week.
Rear Adm. Daniel Cheever was nominated for a third star and to command Naval Air Forces, as well as to lead Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. If confirmed by the Senate, Cheever is set to succeed the current Air Boss Vice Adm. Kenneth Whitesell.
Rear Adm. James Downey was nominated to the rank of vice admiral and to lead Naval Sea Systems Command. If confirmed, Downey will take command of NAVSEA from Vice Adm. Bill Galinas.
Additionally, the current 2nd Fleet commander Vice Adm. Daniel Dwyer was nominated to serve as deputy chief of naval operations for Warfighting Development, N7.
Created in 2019, the N7 is the “sole resource sponsor and strategic leader for naval education,” then Under Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly told reporters. Currently, Vice Adm. Jeffery Hughes serves as the N7.
Air Boss nominee Cheever currently serves as chief of staff for the North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs, Colo., according to the Pentagon. He commissioned in 1988 after graduating from Western Illinois University and became a naval aviator in 1990, according to his biography.
Downey is currently the program executive officer for aircraft carriers. He was commissioned into the Navy in 1987 after graduating from the State University of New York. He’s a career surface warfare officer and prior to PEO carriers served as the Navy Regional Maintenance Center and the program manager for the Zumwalt guided-missile destroyer program.
Dwyer currently serves as commander of 2nd Fleet and commander of Joint Forces Command Norfolk, according to the DoD release. Dwyer is an F/A-18 naval aviator and a Top Gun graduate. He previously commanded the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, as well as served as the director of Plans and Policy (J5) for U.S. Cyber Command, according to his Navy biography.
