Clinton nominates chief of naval operations

April 3, 2000
Web posted at: 5:09 p.m. EDT (2109 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton has nominated Adm. Vernon Clark, commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, to command the Navy as chief of naval operations, Defense Secretary William Cohen announced Monday.

If Clark is confirmed by the Senate as expected, he would succeed Adm. Jay Johnson for a four-year term as the Navy's top admiral and that service's representative on the elite military Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Pentagon said in February that Cohen had recommended that Clinton name Clark to succeed Johnson, whose tour as Navy chief ends this summer.

Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon told reporters after that earlier announcement that Cohen picked Clark, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, and a 31-year Navy veteran, in large measure because he has a strong record and commitment to joint operations with other military services.

"Vern" Clark spent most of his early career in destroyers and is not a flier like Johnson, a fighter pilot who was nominated by Clinton in 1996 to succeed the late Adm. Jeremy "Mike" Boorda as the Navy's leader.

Boorda committed suicide in May of that year over allegations that he was not qualified to wear valor pins on two Vietnam War ribbons.

Clark, who became Atlantic Fleet commander last September, previously was director of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon.

"Throughout his career, he has displayed a commitment to operating in an integrated way with other services and this is the way we operate increasingly," Bacon told reporters earlier.

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