Gordon R. England

Gordon Richard England(born September 15, 1937) is an American politician and businessman who was theU.S. Deputy Secretary of Defenseand twice served as theU.S. Secretary of the Navyin the administration of U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bush.

Gordon England
Official portrait, 2003
29thUnited States Deputy Secretary of Defense
In office January 4, 2006 – February 11, 2009 Acting: May 13, 2005 – January 3, 2006
President	George W. Bush Barack Obama
Secretary	Donald Rumsfeld Robert Gates
Preceded by	Paul Wolfowitz
Succeeded by	William J. Lynn III
72nd and 73rdUnited States Secretary of the Navy
In office October 1, 2003 – January 3, 2006
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Himself
Succeeded by	Donald C. Winter
In office May 24, 2001 – January 24, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Richard Danzig
Succeeded by	Himself
1stUnited States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
In office January 24, 2003 – October 1, 2003
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	James Loy
Personal details
Born	Gordon Richard England (1937-09-15)September 15, 1937 Baltimore,Maryland, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	University of Maryland, College Park(BS) Texas Christian University(MBA)

Early life

England was born on September 15, 1937inBaltimore,Maryland. England attendedMount Saint Joseph High School,graduating with the class of 1955.

Education

England received abachelor's degreeinelectrical engineeringfrom theUniversity of Maryland, College Parkin 1961 and an MBA from theTexas Christian Universityin 1975. He was a member of several fraternities includingBeta Gamma Sigma(business),Omicron Delta Kappa(leadership) andEta Kappa Nu(electrical engineering).

Career

England at the Pentagon during theSeptember 11 attacksin 2001

England testifying to theSenate Appropriations Committee

England withD.C. Curtis,August 2002

England started his business career in 1966 atHoneywellwhere he was an engineer on theProject Geminispace program. He worked forLitton Industriesas a program manager on theE-2C Hawkeyeaircraft for theUnited States Navy.He was also CEO ofGRE Consultants.

By 1977 he was employed byGeneral DynamicsFort Worth Divisionwhere he held various posts including Director of Avionics. He was later named as the Vice President of Engineering, and later President and general manager, ofGeneral Dynamics Land SystemsDivision, eventually transitioning back to General Dynamics Fort Worth as Division President. England remained in that post when General Dynamics sold the Fort Worth Division toLockheed;later becoming President of that corporation for four years.

England returned to General Dynamics as Executive Vice President of theCombat Systems Group.He served from 1997 to 2001 as Executive Vice President of General Dynamics where he had overall responsibility for Information Systems and International sectors.

England transferred from the business world to government during the administration of U.S. PresidentGeorge W. Bushserving in a number of key roles, having previously served as a member of theDefense Science Board.

72nd Secretary of the Navy

England was a controversial choice forSecretary of the Navydue to his lack of any military service experience and his long career in the defense industry including his most recent appointment as Executive Vice President ofGeneral Dynamics Corporation.Critics such asWilliam D. Hartung,Head of theArms Trade Resource Center,felt that it was inappropriate to appoint businessmen whose companies would be the prime benefactor of any increase in defense spending. U.S. Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeldhowever had decided to make corporate experience one of the key requirements in his appointees as was reported in theWashington Times.This policy led to England's appointment alongside other leading industrialists includingJames RocheandThomas E. White.England was sworn in on May 24, 2001. He is reported inThe Washington Postas having announced that one of his key aims in the role was the development of "futuristic weapons to counter new types of threats emerging in the post-Soviet world."

President Bush with England,James Roche,andThomas E. White

The Washington Postreports that during his time in this role "England has joined with Adm.Vernon Clark,chief of naval operations, in directing some of the most sweeping change the service has seen in decades. "The report goes on to list the following;

• Retiring dozens of ships
• Shedding thousands of jobs,
• Consolidating Navy and Marine Corps tactical aviation forces
• Juggling crew deployments to keep some ships at sea longer
• Devising plans to surge more warships into action faster during a crisis.

By an instruction dated May 31, 2002, England directed allUnited States Navyships to fly thefirst navy jackin honor of those killed in theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks.The jack is to be flown for the duration of theWar on Terrorism.

England left the post in January 2003 for a new position within the administration.

1st Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security

England is sworn in byDavid O. Cookeas Secretary of the Navy

On January 24, 2003, England took up his new role as Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security in the newly formedUnited States Department of Homeland Security.Although England's stint in this post was brief, a close associate quoted inThe Washington Poststates that it "broadened his exposure to the White House and his 'contact base' in Washington."

73rd Secretary of the Navy

England was recalled to once again take on the role of Secretary of the Navy after just a few months following the suicide of his nominated replacementColin R. McMillan.England was sworn in on October 1, 2003, becoming only the second person to hold the post twice and the first to serve back-to-back terms. According to a close associate quoted inThe Washington Post,England's time in theUnited States Department of Homeland Securityhad "expanded [his] view of the administration's war on terrorism", which led to a number of initiatives that he pursued in his second term at the Pentagon including stronger ties between the Navy andCoast Guardand a greater assistance to marines on the front lines in Iraq.

England withChairman of The Joint Chiefs of StaffGeneralRichard B. Myersand his wife Mary Jo Myers pose next to a model of aSan Antonio-classamphibious dock landing ship (LPD)USS Somerset (LPD 25).

England with Australian Prime MinisterKevin Ruddin March 2008

England (second from left) at press conference withPaul Wolfowitz,James RocheandThomas E. White

In June 2004, aSupreme Courtruling granted prisoners atGuantanamo Bay,Cubathe right to plead their cases in U.S. courts. As theBBCpointed out the 600 detainees had been in legal limbo since their capture during the2001 invasion of Afghanistan,during which time only three detainees had been charged and several dozen had been sent back home following diplomatic pressure from other nations. England was appointed to head the review that was conducted in secret by a panel consisting of three military officers to whom prisoners were given the chance to provide facts to support their case for release. England made clear that "The question is: Are they still threats to America? It's not guilt or innocence." As a result of this review 38 prisoners were released due to a lack of evidence that England referred to as ‘thin files’.

England was succeeded as Secretary of the Navy byDonald C. Winter.

Deputy Secretary of Defense

England was nominated asDeputy Secretary of Defenseon May 13, 2005, and immediately took up the role in an acting capacity while awaiting his confirmation. His replacement ofPaul Wolfowitzhas been looked upon favorably in the media withThe Washington Postcommenting, "England has a reputation for being less ideological than Wolfowitz and more attuned to the administrative demands of the Pentagon's second-ranking civilian job'" but critics still maintain that his prime loyalty remains to the defense industry. England was recess appointed to the full Deputy Secretary position on January 4, 2006, by President Bush. He resigned with the incomingObama administration.

Acting Secretary of Defense

On January 22, 2009,Secretary of Defense Robert Gatestold reporters he would hand off his duties to Gordon R. England during his January 23 surgery.On January 23, 2009, while Gates underwent two hours of surgery to repair a torn tendon in his left biceps, Gordon England was in charge of the Pentagon. England continued this service while Gates recovered from the surgery.During this time, England was the acting Defense Secretary.

Other activities and awards

England has been involved with various civic, charitable and government organizations. He was a city councilman, as well as vice-chair on the board ofGoodwill Industries.He was on theUSO's Board of Governors, theDefense Science Board,the Board of Visitors atTexas Christian University,and others.

He has been recognized for numerous professional and service contributions from multiple organizations such as Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Maryland; theDepartment of Defense Distinguished Public Service Award;theSilver Beaver Awardfrom theBoy Scouts of America;the Silver Knight of Management Award from theNational Management Association;the Henry M. Jackson Award and the IEEE Centennial Award.

England was elected a member of theNational Academy of Engineeringin 2012 for advances in digital avionics for aircraft, land, and naval platforms. He is also a member of theNaval Order of the United States.

References

• Bradley Graham, "Wolfowitz Successor Picked: Navy Secretary Is Bush's Choice for No. 2 Defense Job"The Washington Post,April 1, 2005
• William D. Hartung,"How Much Are You Making on the War, Daddy?", Bantum Books, 2003
• Rowan Scarborough,"Rumsfeld's 'Defense Inc.' Reasserts Civilian Control",The Washington Times,April 24, 2001 (requires registration)
• "US to review Guantanamo prisoners"BBC News, June 24, 2004

External links

• Gordon R. England,White Housebiography
• AppearancesonC-SPAN