Mabus settles into new job as Navy secretary - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

Mabus settles into new job as Navy secretary

Washington — There are only a few signs that Ray Mabus’ new office in the Pentagon belongs to him. A few pictures of his family sit on a table. A book featuring his photographs rests on the coffee table.

After nearly five weeks as secretary of the Navy, Mabus hasn’t quite settled in yet. Instead, the former Mississippi governor has toured a shipbuilding yard in Bath, Maine, visited Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and testified before three congressional committees about the Navy’s proposed budget.

“It is a great job. The thing that has impressed me the most about this is the people you get to work with, the skill level, the professionalism, the commitment,” Mabus said in his office, which is equipped with windows designed to ward off blasts. “The issues you get to deal with are important issues. They make a big difference in a lot of ways.”

As the Navy’s top civilian official, Mabus helps set policies for the Navy and Marines, and he oversees a department with a $125 billion budget and 900,000 workers. His job includes oversight of recruiting, training and mobilizing, and construction and repairs of Navy ships and facilities.

Mabus takes on his new job at a critical time, with the Navy and Marines fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He also faces other challenges, including increasing the size of the Navy fleet and repairing or replacing aging ships and equipment.

Meanwhile, he must work with a Congress burdened by budget woes.

“Oh, Lord, he’s got budgetary challenges left and right,” said Democratic Rep. Gene Taylor, who represents Mississippi’s 4th District and sits on the House Armed Services Committee. “We’ve got to try to build 10 ships a year. We’ve got about $14 billion a year to do that.”

One Arleigh Burke-class destroyer alone can cost more than $1 billion, Taylor said.

Mabus said the Navy’s acquisition process is one of his most pressing concerns.

“We’ve got to make sure that we buy the things that we buy on schedule, on budget — that we don’t unilaterally disarm ourselves because we’re buying ever-more-exotic, ever-more-expensive but ever-fewer numbers of ships or aircraft,” he said.

Peter Singer, director of the 21st Century Defense Initiative at the Brookings Institution, said oversight will be crucial.

“Almost every new Navy ship and aircraft being bought is immensely costly and typically over-budget,” Singer said. “This in turn means we can only buy fewer and fewer, undermining national security. If Mabus doesn’t break this trend, he will preside over a Navy that could very well end up near 200 ships.”

Currently, the Navy has 283 ships, about half of what it had during the Cold War, Singer said.

Mabus called the fleet small but “far more capable.”

“They can do way more things than 550 ships could 25 years ago,” he said. “But at some point, the numbers begin to matter. No matter how good the capabilities of any one ship are, that one ship can [only] be at one place at a time.”

Mabus said much of what happens next will depend on findings from the Quadrennial Defense Review, due in February. The review outlines the military’s mission and needs.

“If we want to keep a global presence we’re going to have to make sure that we have enough of the equipment, of the ships to be where we need to be,” he said.

Republicans and Democrats on the Armed Services Committee are looking to Mabus to make sure the Navy is ready and has the right equipment.

“I have serious concerns about the Navy’s ability to cost effectively build and sustain a modern fleet,” said Rep. John Fleming, R-La. “This is a formidable challenge, especially at a time when China is advancing its ability to project naval power globally.”

Rep. Bobby Bright, D-Ala., said it’s important that Mabus ensures “the Navy has a long-term strategic plan and implements such a plan with success.”

Mabus served as the governor of Mississippi from 1988-92 and was ambassador to Saudi Arabia under former President Bill Clinton.

He also was chairman and CEO of Foamex from 2006-07 and helped move the large manufacturing company out of bankruptcy. A graduate of the University of Mississippi and Harvard Law School, he served a short stint in the Navy 40 years ago aboard the light cruiser Little Rock.

Still, it may take awhile for Mabus to unravel the workings of the modern Navy and Marines, military experts say.

“He’s going to have a challenge in getting up to speed enough to have credibility in taking part in the military debate,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a defense analyst for the Brookings Institution. “The goal is not to just be a figurehead, but to push an agenda.”

How much influence Mabus wields will depend on Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said Larry Korb, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a think tank in Washington.

“These jobs have this prestige, but not a lot of power,” Korb said. “You give pep talks to the troops and things like that and show the flag, but you’re not the ultimate decision maker. ... You can make your case, but Gates made all the budget decisions already.”

Mabus said he wants to make sure service members have more access to mental health care and, for their children, child care services. And next month, he plans to visit service members in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It’s important “to go and see the folks that are carrying the fight ... to listen to their concerns, to talk to not only the military leadership there, but also the lance corporals and seamen second class who are at the tip of the spear,” Mabus said.

Mabus said the Navy will continue to play a role in international issues, beyond the Middle East. The U.S. is part of an international task force combating piracy.

“It’s a huge body of water to cover, lot of ships coming through,” he said of pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean. “The only way to do it is to do it as a team.”

Lawmakers on the Gulf Coast are counting on Mabus to bolster the case for shipbuilding, which is critical to many local communities.

“Ray is in a very good position to understand the important relationship between the Navy and our state,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who introduced Mabus at his nomination hearing and attended his swearing-in.

Taylor says Mabus will go to the extreme to be fair to other states.

“I just hope in his effort to be fair to everyone, he’s not unfair to us,” said Taylor.

He said he has urged Mabus to also visit Pascagoula, Miss., home of Ingalls Shipbuilding. Mabus said he will, and that he understands how important shipbuilding is to the nation.

“We’ve got to keep that capacity to build ships. We have it around the country,” Mabus said. “We can do that if we stay on time, stay on budget.”