In a historic move that has been drawing reactions across the globe, President Joe Biden of the United States has chosen a female admiral to lead the US Navy – the first time a woman has been nominated to head a Pentagon military service branch.
Records have it that Lisa Franchetti is a former head of the US 6th Fleet and US naval forces in South Korea, and has also served as an aircraft carrier strike commander. According to the nation’s procedures, her nomination by Biden must still be confirmed by the US Senate.
Remarkably, if confirmed as Chief of Naval Operations she will be the first woman to become a member of the elite group of senior military officers who make up the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The 38-year veteran was only the second woman to achieve the rank of four-star admiral.
President Biden in a statement made available to newsmen, hailed what he called her “extensive expertise in both the operational and policy arenas” and said she “will again make history” when she is confirmed for the role.
Local reports have it that Franchetti was not the first choice of the US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, who instead recommended TOPGUN graduate Samuel Paparo as the next Navy chief.
In another move, Biden promoted Adm Paparo, nominating him to become the commander of the US military forces in the Pacific.
It should be noted that the US Coast Guard is currently led by a woman – Admiral Linda Fagan – but that military branch falls under the Department of Homeland Security rather than the Department of Defense.
Once confirmed, Franchetti will take up the position in the fall when the current chief’s four-year term expires.
As of the time of filing this report, it was gathered that Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville is blocking the senate from confirming more than 270 military promotions over a Pentagon policy that pays the travel expenses of service members who have to go out of state to have an abortion.
But in his statement, Biden criticized the senator, saying “what Senator Tuberville is doing is not only wrong—it is dangerous”.
The President added: “He is risking our ability to ensure that the United States Armed Forces remain the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. And his Republican colleagues in the Senate know it.”
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