WASHINGTON —Vice Adm. Robert Gaucher is officially in place the Pentagon’s first-ever submarine “czar,” with the Navy telling Breaking Defense he took office on Feb. 23.
Gaucher is the Pentagon’s first Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager (DPRM) for Submarines, reporting directly to Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg. In this new role, he will oversee production of both Virginia and Columbia-class submarines, which have faced delays stemming from workforce shortages and supply chain challenges.
“The establishment of the new DRPM Submarines elevates this critical portfolio, providing dedicated leadership that streamlines and enhances the ability of the Secretary of War, Deputy Secretary of War, and Secretary of the Navy to address the complexities of submarine construction and inform their resource decisions,” a Navy spokesperson said in a statement to Breaking Defense today.
Breaking Defense reported last summer that Gaucher was in line for such a role, and the Senate confirmed Gaucher for the position in January. He becomes the second DPRM, following Air Force Gen. Dale White’s elevation to the role in November. The role is modeled after the appointment of Gen. Michael Guetlein to lead the Pentagon’s Golden Dome initiative in July 2025.
Getting the submarine industrial base on track has been a longstanding challenge for the Navy, and Gaucher will certainly have his work cut out for him. The Navy announced in 2024 that the fourth and fifth blocks of Virginia-class submarines were roughly 36 and 24 months late, and that the first Columbia-class submarine was running roughly 12 to 16 months behind schedule.
Even so, the Program Executive Officer for Strategic Submarines, Rear Adm. Todd Weeks, said at the WEST 2026 conference in San Diego this month that the Columbia-class is facing a construction “ramp-up” and that full-rate construction of the vessels are expected in the early 2030s.
Gaucher previously served as the commander of Naval Submarine Forces and Submarine Force Atlantic starting in December 2023, where he served as the undersea domain lead and oversaw all Atlantic-based submarines. Previous assignments include serving as commanding officer of the Los Angeles-class submarine City of Corpus Christi, and commander of Submarine Group 9.
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Gaucher handed over the reins of Naval Submarine Forces to Vice Adm. Richard Seif during a change of command ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia on Feb. 20. Seif, who graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1992, previously served as the director for AUKUS Integration and Acquisition, a Navy program office that is responsible for overseeing the U.S. role in Pillar I of the trilateral agreement.
Additionally, Seif served as commander of Submarine Forces, US Pacific Fleet, as well as commanding officer of the Los Angeles-class submarines Buffalo and the Jacksonville. He also was commodore of Submarine Squadron 1 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
“We are America’s undersea arsenal. We are a global undersea response force, and we will cede no battle. We are the Navy’s unseen shield, and unseen sword, America’s first line of defense, and offense against those who would disrupt and destabilize the rules based order,” Seif said at the change of command, according to a Navy news release. “We are men and women of action, and we have the watch. Should deterrence fail, we will be on the scene, ready, upon order, alongside our allies and partners.”