Geurts Is Back; Now As Temp Navy Undersecretary

WASHINGTON: The Navy is bringing back James Geurts, its former acquisitions chief during the Trump Administration who led the change to modernize the force and keep shipyards open during the COVID pandemic. He will fill in as Navy undersecretary during the Pentagon’s transition to the Biden team.

Geurts will “Perform the Duties of Under Secretary of the Navy” starting today, just weeks after he stepped down from his previous job as assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition following Biden’s inauguration.

In that job, Geurts was tasked with pushing major projects like the new Columbia-class submarine toward the finish line while working through a long list of problems with the new USS Ford, the first in a class of new aircraft carriers. The first Columbia began construction in October, and the Ford has shaken off problems with its radars and launch and recovery technologies and will deploy as soon as 2022.

Additionally, the Navy will begin construction on a new class of frigates later this year.

After stepping down on Jan. 20, Geurts resumed serving as a senior executive service employee in the Navy. This newest temporary appointment could signal a new role for him in the Biden administration, given his deep knowledge of Navy and Special Operations modernization projects over the past decade, and his budget experience getting new classes of ships into production and success at fixing major problems. 

His appointment should also help provide continuity as the new administration works to shape the 2022 defense budget, given his direct personal involvement in the service’s shipbuilding and sustainment plans. 

Speaking at the virtual Expeditionary Warfare conference on Tuesday, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker said he expects the Biden administration’s shipbuilding plans will come into focus in the coming days and weeks as new appointees begin entering the Pentagon. 

“As those people start filling in, we anticipate getting more clarity on the priorities of the administration. The timeline for us to present the budget is to hopefully get something over to Congress in May, with a lot of work being done internal to the department as we look at that.”

Geurts spent a good part of 2020 fighting to ensure that public and private Navy shipyards remained up and running during widespread COVID-related shutdowns, pumping hundreds of millions of dollars in sped-up contracts to the yards to keep the supply chain moving. Not one shipyard closed during that time.

“It has been fairly remarkable that we have not slowed down. In fact our operations are at an all-time high. We’ve never shut down a shipyard – private or public – for a day during COVID,”  he told an Atlantic Council webinar in December.

He added that the ability to pivot quickly was something he learned at SOCOM.

“You can plan for the unplanned,” he said, “you can get in sets and reps and start building while you have the time to absorb the inefficiency of that learning.” When he came to the Navy in 2017 after serving at SOCOM he said, “we didn’t have a good wartime plan on the acquisition side. We were very focused on being hyper-efficient in a peacetime mode.”

Throughout 2019 and 2020, Geurts also spearheaded the establishment of 15 “Tech Bridges” across the country — and one in London, UK — which engaged small tech firms and academia in partnering with the Navy to develop new solutions and new technologies.

In a statement, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker said, “I’ve worked with Hondo for a number of years and know he will bring a wealth of insight and leadership derived from 34 years of DoD experience to this position. His stellar knowledge of acquisition efforts, experience driving positive change, and commitment to naval innovation will be a strong asset in this position, where he will continue to reinforce a clear understanding of the needs, requirements and capabilities of our Navy and Marine Corps.”