James “Hondo” Geurts is exiting the Pentagon, he announced this week. (Navy)
WASHINGTON: James “Hondo” Geurts, the former Navy acquisition executive and current acting Navy undersecretary, announced today he is stepping down from his post at the Pentagon.
In a handwritten note posted to LinkedIn, Geurts said he would be leaving “later this month.” He added that “It has been an incredible honor to serve the country for all of these years in uniform, as a government civilian, and as an appointee.”
Geurts, a career airman and once the acquisition executive for Special Operations Command, has been a popular figure in DC defense circles for years. He was handpicked by former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer to become the service’s acquisition chief in late 2017.
Despite the turmoil faced by Spencer and his former No. 2, Thomas Modly, Geurts remained a steady hand leading the Navy’s largest acquisition programs during the Trump administration. He began performing the duties of the undersecretary earlier this year after the Biden administration took office.
His departure was not unexpected, given the Senate is on the verge of confirming a new Navy secretary, Carlos Del Toro, who recently received a favorable vote from the Senate Armed Services Committee. But the timing had been unknown, and it leaves the Navy without even an announced nominee for the service’s No. 2 role. It was not immediately clear who would replace Geurts in that role.
