SECDEF Announces Flag Officer Nominations

April 29, 2010 - WASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced Apr. 29 that the president has made the following nominations:

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Joseph P. Aucoin has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Aucoin is currently serving as commander, Carrier Strike Group 3, Bremerton, Wash.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Terry J. Benedict has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Benedict is currently serving as program executive officer for integrated warfare systems, Washington, D.C.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Patrick H. Brady has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Brady is currently serving as deputy commander for undersea warfare, SEA-073, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Ted N. Branch has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Branch is currently serving as commander, Carrier Strike Group 1, San Diego.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Paul J. Bushong has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Bushong is currently serving as commander, Navy Region Marianas/U.S. Pacific Command representative, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau/commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Marianas, Guam.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) James F. Caldwell Jr. has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Caldwell is currently serving as commander, Submarine Group 9, Silverdale, Wash.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Thomas H. Copeman III has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Copeman is currently serving as commander, Joint Task Force Guantanamo, U.S. Southern Command, Guantanamo, Cuba.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Samuel J. Cox has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Cox previously served as director, plans, policy and intelligence integration, Naval Network Warfare Command, Norfolk, Va.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Philip S. Davidson has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Davidson is currently serving as commander, Carrier Strike Group Eight, Norfolk, Va.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Kevin M. Donegan has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Donegan is currently serving as commander, Carrier Strike Group Five, Yokosuka, Japan.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Patrick Driscoll has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Driscoll is currently serving as commander, Carrier Strike Group Ten, Norfolk, Va.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) David A. Dunaway has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Dunaway is currently serving as commander, Operational Test and Evaluation Force, Norfolk, Va.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Thomas J. Eccles has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Eccles is currently serving as deputy commander for ship design, integration and engineering, SEA-05, Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Mark D. Guadagnini has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Guadagnini is currently serving as commander, Carrier Strike Group Nine, Everett, Wash.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Joseph A. Horn Jr. has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Horn is currently serving as program director, Aegis ballistic missile defense, Missile Defense Agency, Dahlgren, Va.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Anthony M. Kurta has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Kurta previously served as commander, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, Djibouti, Africa.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Joseph P. Mulloy has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Mulloy is currently serving as deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for budget/director, Fiscal Management Division, N82, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Washington, D.C.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Sean A. Pybus has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Pybus is currently serving as commander, Special Operations, U.S. Pacific Command, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) John M. Richardson has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Richardson is currently serving as director, plans and operations, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Sixth Fleet/deputy commander, Sixth Fleet/commander submarines, Allied Naval Forces South/commander, Submarine Group Eight, Naples, Italy.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Michael S. Rogers has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Rogers is currently serving as director for intelligence, J2, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Thomas S. Rowden has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Rowden is currently serving as commander, Carrier Strike Group Seven, San Diego, Calif.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) David G. Simpson has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Simpson is currently serving as director, CJ6, Multi-National Force - Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq.

Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Nora W. Tyson has been nominated for appointment to the rank of rear admiral. Tyson is currently serving as commander, logistics group, Western Pacific/commander, Task Force 73/commander, Navy Region Singapore.