THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 6, 1996 TAG: 9606060346
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 108 lines
A naval officer who never commanded a ship, instead spending much of his career flying jet fighters into combat, was formally nominated by President Clinton Wednesday to take the Navy's helm.
Adm. Jay L. Johnson, who just four years ago put on his first star as a carrier group commander, today wears four - and is poised to skipper the 422,000-member Navy and its 363 ships.
Clinton, in a White House announcement that was purposely kept low key, nominated the 50-year-old naval aviator at what he called ``a crucial time'' in the Navy's history.
Johnson's nomination, which much be confirmed by the Senate, follows by three weeks the suicide of Adm. Jeremy ``Mike'' Boorda, the former CNO.
``With Admiral Johnson at the helm, I am confident that our Navy will continue to protect and advance our nation's freedom and security,'' the president said.
Defense Secretary William Perry had recommended Johnson's nomination to Clinton last week.
Johnson was promoted three months ago from the three-star rank of vice admiral to the vice CNO's position. Since Boorda's death, Johnson has been serving as acting CNO.
The Senate is expected to confirm him to the top spot with little opposition, despite concerns raised Wednesday about his paid position on an insurance company that serves the military.
Clinton had considered a high-profile announcement of Johnson's selection to help boost Navy morale, but the White House scuttled the idea after deciding that keeping the announcement low-key would make it easier to win Senate confirmation, presidential spokesman Mike McCurry said.
Perry had promised to get a successor in place quickly to help the Navy recover from the suicide of its popular commander. Boorda, appointed by Clinton in the wake of the tumultuous Tailhook sexual harassment scandal, expressed concern in a suicide note about media inquiries into two combat pins he wore on his uniform.
Johnson, a 1968 graduate of the Naval Academy, is one of the fastest-rising stars in the Navy. He is described by colleagues as a smart, innovative officer.
During the fighting in Vietnam, he completed 150 combat missions during two carrier tours, flying F-8J Crusaders.
He since has won wide praise as commander of the Norfolk-based 2nd Fleet during America's intervention in Haiti, an episode that saw the Navy work more closely than ever with the Army.
As commander of Carrier Air Wing Eight aboard the carrier Theodore Roosevelt, Johnson led the first ``no-fly'' zone initiative over Bosnia in 1993. The United Nations-sponsored effort was aimed at halting combat in war-stricken southeastern Europe.
He also was involved that year in perhaps the most radical change ever for the nation's aircraft carrier fleet, when he swapped 18 planes and their squadron members for 10 troop-carrying helicopters and 600 combat Marines.
The idea, coming in an era of hefty defense cuts, was to make the carrier available for dual roles - as a platform for launching airstrikes and as a troop ship for putting Marines ashore.
While it largely was successful, neither the Navy nor the Marines have duplicated it. However, during the Haiti mission, the Navy, under Johnson's command of the 2nd Fleet, did use a carrier as a platform for Army Rangers.
Ahead for Johnson is a Senate confirmation process that initially will involve the Armed Services Committee. The committee's members are expected to send the nomination to the full Senate for approval, a process completed for Johnson following his promotion to four stars earlier this year.
Pentagon officials said they did not know how long the confirmation process would take.
``The Senate and the administration are aware of the importance of the Navy moving forward,'' said one official. ``Although Adm. Johnson is the acting CNO, it would be helpful to have the nomination move forward ahead as quickly as possible.''
The promotions of two other admirals recently nominated by Clinton for four stars are already pending before the Senate. Vice Adm. J. Paul Reason, deputy chief of naval operations for plans, policy and operations, would come to Norfolk as commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Fleet; and Vice Adm. Frank L. Bowman, chief of naval personnel, would replace retiring Adm. Bruce DeMars as director of naval nuclear propulsion.
Johnson's nomination is for four years, clearly taking him into office through the turn of the century.
The Navy will have to fill the vice CNO's position that Johnson will vacate. That post normally goes to a three-star admiral just being promoted to four stars, and usually is given to someone who is in a different field from the CNO; because Johnson is an aviator, the vice CNO likely would be either a surface ship or submarine officer.
Candidates emerging are: Vice Adm. Dennis C. Blair, associate director of central intelligence for military support in the Central Intelligence Agency; Vice Adm. Harold W. Gehman Jr., deputy commander-in-chief and chief of staff of the Norfolk-based Atlantic Fleet; and Vice Adm. Donald L. Pilling, commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean-based 6th Fleet. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Adm. Jay L. Johnson is expected to easily win Senate confirmation to
become chief of naval operations for the next four years.
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS
APPOINTMENT by CNB