THE SEA SERVICES
President Names DD 21 Class

In Honor of Former CNO Zumwalt

By RICHARD R. BURGESS

President Bill Clinton has announced that the Navy’s future class of land-attack destroyers will be named for Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., who in 1970 became the youngest man ever to serve as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO). In naming the 32-ship DD 21 class of 21st-century land-attack destroyers for Zumwalt, who died last January, the Navy will be honoring an officer of "visionary leadership," officials said, who had a "well-known reputation as a Navy reformer."

The lead ship, the Zumwalt, is expected to enter fleet service by the end of the current decade. "These revolutionary warships are being designed to meet post-Cold War requirements using 21st-century naval warfare concepts," Navy officials said. "The Zumwalt class will incorporate several advanced technologies and introduce a number of design features to improve the DD 21 Sailor’s quality of life."

The Zumwalt also will be the first U.S. Navy ship to be powered and propelled by a fully integrated power system, including modern electric drive. Navy planners hope the ship’s crew will be fewer than 100 Sailors. The ship will feature new habitability standards and shipboard amenities, including staterooms for the entire ship’s company, Navy officials said.

"DD 21 will be a platform that values its crew more than any other ship on which Sailors have ever lived, fought, and worked," said Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig. "It is a fitting tribute to the legacy of Admiral Bud Zumwalt."

After service as the commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970, Zumwalt became, at age 49, the youngest four-star admiral in the history of the U.S. Navy. As CNO, Zumwalt initiated wide-ranging and sometimes controversial reforms in a dramatic effort to revitalize the Navy. Despite criticisms from some Navy retirees and some members of Congress, Zumwalt was hailed by Time magazine as "the Navy’s most popular leader since World War II."

Zumwalt retired in 1974 and in 1996 became chairman of the Board of the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation. He also served as a member of the Navy League’s National Advisory Council. In 1998, Zumwalt was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his service to the United States in war and peace.

Last Cyclone Commissioned;
Lead Ship Decommissioned

The 14th and last of the Cyclone class of coastal patrol ships (PCs) has been commissioned, only weeks after the lead ship of the class was decommissioned. The USS Tornado (PC 14), built by Bollinger Shipyards of Lockport, La., joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in ceremonies at Nauticus International Pier in Norfolk, Va.

Rear Adm. Thomas W. Steffens, director of intelligence and information operations for the U.S. Special Operations Command, delivered the keynote speech at the commissioning ceremonies. The ship’s sponsor, Anne Rich Bowman, wife of Adm. Frank L. Bowman, director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion, gave the order to "man our ship and bring her to life!"

The Cyclone-class PCs conduct coastal patrol, surveillance, and maritime-interdiction operations in support of naval special warfare and other special operations forces. The 170-foot Tornado features upgrades that will be retrofitted onto earlier ships of the class.

Lt. R. Trevor King is the first commanding officer of the 331-ton Tornado and her crew of four officers and 24 Sailors.

The Cyclone, first ship of the class, has been transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard and laid up pending reactivation.

PEO for Cruise Missiles, UAVs
Restructured and Expanded

Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisition) (ASN(RD&A)) H. Lee Buchanan III has reorganized and renamed the program executive office (PEO) that oversees development of cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to broaden its responsibilities to include all conventional strike weapons.

The PEO for Cruise Missiles and Joint Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (PEO(CU)) has been renamed the PEO for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO(W)). The renamed PEO retains responsibility for all previously assigned weapon systems, such as the Tomahawk cruise missile, and absorbs the responsibilities previously assigned to two other program offices—Strike Weapons and Defense Suppression Systems—formerly under the PEO for Tactical Aircraft Programs. Rear Adm. John V. Chenevey heads the PEO(W).

"PEO(W) will maintain the responsibility of providing naval and joint commanders a decisive warfare advantage through the development, production, logistics support, and sustained effort for the weapons, weapons systems, and unmanned aviation products it acquires and supports," Buchanan said. "PEO(W) will continue to report to ASN(RD&A) and receive matrix support from the Naval Air Systems Command."

To Vice Admiral, USN:

Gaffney, Paul G. II Chief of Naval Research/Director, Test and Evaluation and Technology Requirements, Office of the Chief of Naval

Operations (nominated for assignment as President, National Defense University)

Haskins, Michael D. Deputy Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces Europe

(nominated for assignment as Inspector General, Department of the Navy)

Nathman, John B. Director, Air Warfare Division, Office of the Chief of Naval

Operations (nominated for assignment as Commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet)

To Rear Admiral (Lower Half), USN:

Adams, Clinton E. Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital, Naples, Italy

Hart, Steven E. Assistant Chief, Operational Medicine and Fleet Support,

Bureau of Medicine and Surgery

Iasiello, Louis V. Director, Naval Chaplains School, Naval Education Training Center, Newport, R.I.

Maas, Steven W. Director, Supply Corps Personnel, Navy Personnel Command

Maguire, William J. Deputy Commander, Fleet Logistics Operations, Naval Supply Systems Command

Mateczun, John M. Commanding Officer, Naval Hospital, Charleston, S.C.

Phillips, Robert L. Commander, Southwest Naval Facilities Engineering Command, San Diego, Calif.

Pruett, David D. Deputy Director, Facilities and Engineering Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations

Woofter, Dennis D. Commanding Officer, Naval Dental Center Southwest,

San Diego, Calif.