Acting SecNav: ‘I’m not going to have my son go to war the way I did'

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao made his first public remarks Tuesday as the civilian head of the Navy since the Pentagon announced Wednesday that John Phelan would be leaving the role he’d held for just about 13 months.

Cao, a retired Navy explosive ordnance disposal officer and two-time candidate for Virginia congressional seats, appeared at the Modern Day Marine conference in Washington, D.C., in a time slot that Phelan had agreed to fill before his ouster.

“My life changed a little bit the last six days. We've all had a change of command, right? You know, some with the band, some without the band,” he said, alluding to Phelan’s swift firing, which he reportedly learned about when a Pentagon spokesman posted on X. “But again, as warriors, we're always prepared to make sure that we’re able to step up to the position ahead of us and teach the people below us to take over. Because in combat, you lose people, and the fight goes on.”

Cao spoke directly to Marines in the audience. He talked about being under-equipped for the fight duringthe Global War on Terror, and calling on industry representatives in the audience to help prevent the Navy department from making similar  mistakes in the next conflict. 

“So think about this, as we're developing equipment for our Marines out there, that what you're producing right now is going to save the lives of America's sons and daughters,” he said.

He mentioned his own son, who is to be commissioned a Marine Corps second lieutenant in the coming weeks. 

“That's why I do what I'm doing, because I'm not going to have my son go to war the way I did when we were invading Iraq,” he said. 

In an unusual move for conference keynotes, Cao kept his prepared remarks brief, using the remainder of his time to answer screened questions from the audience. 

Asked about shipbuilding, he appeared to be in sync with Phelan’s approach to fielding the Golden Fleet, centered around the nascent Trump-class battleship.

“The Golden Fleet is not just about ships. It's the whole concept of reforming acquisitions, getting ships out there, from high to low, right?” he said. “You can't use a destroyer for everything.”