CNO Visits Sailors in Hampton Roads, Discusses Warfighting

NORFOLK, Va. (May 3, 2024) - Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti traveled to Hampton Roads, Virginia, to meet with Navy leaders and engage with Sailors, May 3.

The visit provided the CNO the opportunity to discuss her warfighting priority with Sailors and help them connect their efforts to the Navy mission. It also enabled Sailors to speak directly to the CNO about their quality of service.

“It's a very complex world, and our Navy team is making a difference wherever we go. We have an amazing mission - our nation is a beacon of hope and democracy for the entire world,” said Franchetti. “We are forward deployed, flexible, and provide options to the Secretary of Defense every day, and that's the important value of the Navy and Marine Corps team.”

Franchetti first met with Rear Adm. Doug Verissimo, Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic, and major commanders at Naval Air Station Oceana. She emphasized how one of her priorities for America’s Warfighting Navy is to empower leaders at all levels to evaluate how they operate in uncertain, complex, and rapidly changing environments.

“It's important that our Sailors understand every day how they connect to our mission. Whether they're deployed today, whether they deployed in the past, whether they're going to be deployed in the future, or whether they’re supporting deployed forces, it's all part of our business.”

She expressed her pride in the work being done throughout the naval aviation community, noting that the U.S. Navy is able to operate forward like no other nation, pointing to the recent efforts in the Red Sea by the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 3 team.

“I could not be more proud of everything that our aviation community delivers. Whether it's from our airwings, helicopters, MPRF or our new Tritons, there's so many things you do that make a difference for our Nation every day,” said Franchetti. “The People’s Republic of China, Russia, Iran, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Violent Extremist Organizations desire to rewrite the global rules-based order for their own political, military, and economic interests. It is our job to deter conflict and to work alongside our Allies and partners and with the Joint Force to fight and win our Nation’s wars should deterrence fail.”

CNO then hosted an all-hands call at Naval Air Station Oceana for more than 200 Sailors from commands around Hampton Roads. During the all-hands call she recognized Sailors, discussed quality of service improvements the Navy is making for Sailors, and emphasized Culture of Excellence 2.0 (COE 2.0) and Get Real Get Better initiatives.

“I'm focused on making sure that you have a good quality of service, which is your quality of work and your quality of life, and ensuring you have world-class workspaces and all the tools and resources you need to be able to deliver combat lethality every single day when it matters and where it matters,” Franchetti said. “That’s why it’s so important to be here today, so I can have a better understanding of what is going on out in the fleet and strongly advocate for you.”

On COE 2.0 Franchetti said, “We are all about building a culture that embraces everybody, that empowers everybody to do their job, and that builds great people, great leaders and great teams. It is through those great teams that we can do all the things we need to do as a Navy for our nation.”

Following the all-hands call, Franchetti visited with Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC) and Vice Adm. Doug Perry, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet, at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads and toured the USFF and U.S. 2nd Fleet Maritime Operations Centers (MOC). Fleet MOCs were developed as a warfighting capability belonging to the Navy component commander and numbered fleet commander, to support commander’s decision-making and set conditions for operational command and control of naval, joint, interagency and combined forces.

Rear Adm. Kavon Hakimzadeh, director Joint/Fleet operations, USFFC, briefed the CNO on how the MOC manages the command and control of assets between Combined Task Force (CTF)-80 and CTF-20, and on their recent successful certification.

“Congratulations on your MOC certification. That is really hard work and I know you learned a lot of valuable lessons,” said Franchetti. “Fighting from the MOC is one of my top priorities because the battlespace is very complex. Understanding how we integrate into the fleet and the operational commands is essential to delivering warfighting advantage.”

This was Franchetti’s first trip to Hampton Roads as CNO.