Published January 13, 2015
President Bush announced Tuesday that he has chosen an executive for a defense contractor to be secretary of the Navy and a Pentagon weapons buyer to be secretary of the Air Force.
Michael W. Wynne (search), Bush's pick for Air Force secretary, has been the Defense Department's undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics since 2003. He will replace James Roche, who resigned in January.
Bush has chosen Donald Winter (search), corporate vice president and president of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, to become the Navy's top civilian official. The position has been open since May, when Bush placed Gordon England (search) in the No. 2 Pentagon job of acting deputy secretary of defense.
In June, the Pentagon's inspector general said Wynne was one of a half-dozen top Pentagon and Air Force officials responsible for a failed $23.5 billion deal to lease and buy refueling tankers from The Boeing Co. Lawmakers called the deal the most significant defense contract abuse in decades, although the inspector general did not accuse the officials of illegal activity.
The deal led to the conviction of former Air Force executive Darleen Druyun on charges of conspiring to violate conflict-of-interest rules. She admitted in court that she favored Boeing because the company gave jobs to her daughter and son-in-law.
Both nominations were announced in a statement issued by the White House while Bush is vacationing in Texas. Both men must be confirmed by the Senate.
Before working at the Pentagon, Wynne was an executive at Ixata and Extended Reach Logistics. He has a bachelor's degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served as a captain in the Air Force. He also has one master's degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology and another from the University of Colorado.
Winter previously was president and CEO of TRW Systems and worked at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Rochester and a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Michigan.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/bush-nominates-navy-air-force-secretaries