ARLINGTON, Va. – Warfighting, warfighters and the foundation upon they are built on are the priorities Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti will focus as the top officer in the Navy.
Franchetti unveiled her priorities for the service Tuesday during the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium. With warfighting, Franchetti wants the Navy to view everything through a warfighting lens, which includes identifying what is necessary for the service’s ability to fight while also working with allies, according to a priorities document Franchetti released shortly before taking the stage.
The focus on warfighters includes empowering leaders while also focusing on recruiting and retention. The Navy missed its recruiting goals in Fiscal Year 2023 and has set higher goals for the 2024 fiscal year, reads the document.
Her focus on the Navy’s foundation includes improving the American public’s trust in the Navy while also encouraging continued partnership with the defense industry and Congress.
“Our actions and the decisions we make will determine the global maritime balance of power and we must all lean into this task together,” Franchetti said during her speech.
Franchetti’s speech primarily focused on the past, with the chief of naval operations focusing on both the 1930s and 1970s. The two decades were periods of struggle due to aging fleets and tight budgets, Franchetti said. She sees parallels between the Navy of the 1930s and 1970s and the current Navy, and the decisions made by leaders of the past can provide key lessons.
“The actions taken during these respective decades remind us that we must be forward thinking in prioritizing our warfighting advantage and that we must increase our capability and capacity in peacetime so we can be ready to surge effectively in war,” Franchetti said.
The Navy’s fighting style determines what it needs, Franchetti said. The chief of naval operations talked about needing more players, by which she meant both people and platforms, she told reporters following her speech.
Needing more players means ships getting out of maintenance on time, to have ships stay in the fleet longer because they receive proper care.
“It’s not a number,” Franchetti said. “It’s an ecosystem of all those things put together.”
Quality of life and recruiting are both areas of focus that will fall under warfighters. Franchetti said Navy leadership is looking at how to better care for sailors by providing wi-fi in barracks, off-site housing for ships in maintenance, good quality food and better parking.
There are infrastructure challenges that are obstacles to improving quality of life, Franchetti said, but there is a senior-level focus on it.
While the Navy did not meet its recruiting goal, it missed it by less than what it expected, Franchetti said. She did not say how the recruiting deficit would affect the Navy’s ability to crew ships.
