Steven A. White
This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2010) |
Steven A. White | |
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Navy Commendation Medal Presidential Unit Citation | |
Spouse(s) | Mary Anne Landreau |
Other work | Manager of nuclear power, TVA |
Steven Angelo White (September 18, 1928 – February 1, 2021) was a four-star admiral who served in the United States Navy from 1948 until 1985. He was the 19th and last Chief of Naval Material.[1]
Background
Steven ("Steve") Angelo White was born on September 18, 1928, in
After several failed attempts to enlist during World War II (owing to his age), White joined the United States Navy Reserve as an enlisted seaman recruit in 1948. Through an ROTC scholarship to USC, he commenced his career as an officer. While at USC, he pursued his Bachelor of Arts in international relations, while simultaneously pursuing his master's degree in political science. He began work as well on a law degree (though, as his military career progressed and his family life developed apace, he did not complete this degree).
During his time at USC, he served on three midshipmen cruises: to Panama on the light cruiser Toledo in the summer of 1949; for amphibious warfare training in Little Creek, Virginia, and Naval aviation training at Pensacola, Florida, in the summer of 1950; and to Cuba on the battleship Missouri from Norfolk, Virginia, in the summer of 1951 (his senior cruise). Following his graduation from USC in the summer of 1952, he was commissioned as an ensign.
White's first assignment as a commissioned officer was USS Manchester (CL-83), a cruiser based out of Long Beach, California. Aboard Manchester, White participated in the Korean War: Manchester served on the bomb-line off the east coast of Korea before he joined the ship in 1952, and returned to the bomb-line, with periodic trips to patrol and shell Wonsan, until the signing of the armistice on July 27, 1953.
Following White's application and acceptance to the submarine program, as well as his promotion to lieutenant (junior grade) in December 1953, the Whites relocated to New London, Connecticut, for a six-month training course. At the conclusion of the course, he received orders to USS Tang (SS-563), then stationed at Pearl Harbor. He served aboard Tang for two years, including lengthy service in and around Japan. In 1956, when he was seriously considering resigning from the Navy and a return to his law school ambitions, he first encountered Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, whose nuclear program was then on the brink of blossoming.
White's first encounter with the "Father of the Nuclear Navy"—which consisted of attendance to a lecture given by Rickover in Pearl Harbor in 1956—inspired him to apply for one of the very few openings in Rickover's program. He survived the grueling interview process and was accepted, once again relocating his family to New London to attend the
His first assignment post-training was the
After the Russians launched the rocket
In the months that followed the PANOPO (Pacific to Atlantic via NOrth POle) crossing and until Nautilus entered the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, shipyard for her first overhaul in April 1959, White and the other officers served as public relations representatives for Nautilus and nuclear power.
In January 1960, before completion of the overhaul, White received orders to
Soon after, White was promoted to Executive Officer of the same ship on which he had served for two years as Engineer. Training followed at the
In the summer of 1964, White received his first shore-duty assignment: to the staff of the Deputy to the
In the summer of 1966, his next assignment, as commanding officer of USS Pargo (SSN-650) (then under construction by Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut), necessitated several weeks of training at Rickover's CHARM school in Washington, D.C. (during which time Rickover utilized him more as a direct staff-member than allowed time for actual training). Command of Pargo entailed, among other experiences, training and target practice with the Mark 48 torpedo, as well as more under-ice and Arctic explorations.
By the summer of 1969, the Whites were established members of the Groton, Connecticut submarine community. Consequently, his orders to serve as Commander of Division 102, supervising four submarines, brought comparative stability to the oft-moving family. This work was followed by relocation to Washington, D.C., in October 1970, where he served for nearly two years, working directly for Admiral Rickover at
During his next assignment, under Admiral Michaelis in the Office of Naval Material (NAVMAT) beginning the summer of 1976, White worked to revitalize and reform the branch and establish a group of all material personnel in all of the large organizations through the military structure, coordinating them to function more seamlessly under Michaelis' command. This assignment was followed, in the summer of 1978, with orders to serve under the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (OP-02), in charge of Submarine Warfare. In May 1980, White was promoted to vice admiral and assigned to serve as COMSUBLANT.
During his COMSUBLANT tenure, he created the Tactical Readiness Evaluation program, reconstructed war plans for interactions with the Soviet Union at a critical moment (taking into consideration their bastions for ballistic submarines), and transformed the program for negotiating the pace of operation and calculating "home port" time for officers and crew (converting OPTEMPO to PERSTEMPO). In May 1983, he received his final assignment in the United States Navy: promotion to full four-star admiral and return to NAVMAT, this time as Chief. He aggressively pursued (and enforced) fiscal responsibility and reform as Chief of NAVMAT.
Manager of nuclear power, Tennessee Valley Authority
Following his retirement from the Navy in July 1985, White worked as a part-time contractor and adviser for various companies (with the codicil that he refused ever to work on anything that might produce a conflict of interest with his military service). Later that year, he took charge of the nuclear power division of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).[5] In the three years he worked for the TVA, he successfully cleaned out pervasive personnel problems, revitalized the deeply conflicted program, and laid the ground work for the resumption of nuclear power supply: TVA's Sequoyah PWR Unit 1 resumed full functionality on November 10, 1988.[6] At the same time, he successfully combatted political questions,[7] allegations that he had broken conflict of interest laws,[8] death threats, and being the target of negative press. All charges were completely dismissed.[9] He retired from the TVA in November 1988.[10] For a short time after leaving the TVA, White worked once again as a contractor for Lockheed Martin Corporation and EBASCO services.
Retirement and death
Notes
- ^
"Office of Naval Material - Lists of Commanding Officers and Senior Officials of the US Navy". www.history.navy.mil. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
On 6 May 1985, the Command was disestablished.
- ^ "VHHS Stars: Adm. Steven White, USN". www.lausd.k12.ca.us. Retrieved 2010-07-10. "he has the distinction of being one of the crew members on the first ship ever to reach the North Pole!"
- ISBN 978-0-7852-2759-5. OCLC 173248968.
- ^ "Arctic Submarine Lab History". www.csp.navy.mil. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
- ^ Ben, Franklin (1988-03-04). "Committee Assails Nuclear Agency". New York Times. "a report by the commission's office of investigation had concluded that 'Mr. White intentionally lied to the N.R.C.'"
- ^ "Sequoyah Unit 1" (PDF). www.ucsusa.org. p. 5. Retrieved 2010-07-11. "Outage dates (duration): August 22, 1985 to November 10, 1988 (3.2 Years)"
- ^ "T.V.A. REINSTATING ADMIRAL AS MANAGER OF NUCLEAR PROGRAM". www.nytimes.com. January 8, 1987. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
- ^ "New contract drafted for authority, White". The Free Lance-Star (AP). 1987-01-05. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
- ISBN 978-0-7546-3786-8. "Less than two years after his appointment as TVA nuclear chief Steven White faced a problem with the Justice Department over a NRC charge that he lied under oath. Though the charges were dismissed, they had cast new doubt on TVA's nuclear program."
- ^
Wald, Matthew L. (1989-02-17). "Trouble at a Reactor? Call In an Admiral". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
'They are a terribly independent-minded, obnoxious bunch,' he [
Admiral Kinnaird McKee] said. 'They've all been submarine commanding officers, and that's the only kind of guy who can do that well.' [...] 'I had a letter less than 10 days ago from a headhunter who asked, was I interested in coming back, or did I know of some other admiral? [...] The Tennessee Valley Authority, depending on who you talk to, was losing between $1 million and $6 million a day with its plants shut,' Admiral White said. - ^ "Retired Naval Officers (letter to the President)" (PDF). pearlharbor911attacks.com. 1991-10-22. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
- ^ "A candidate who sends troops into harm's way and then denies them the supplies they need to do the job cannot lead our nation in the War on Terror." Open Letter Signed By 121 Retired Flag Officers, initially posted on the (now closed) George W. Bush election website, 20th October 2004 (as www.GeorgeWBush.com/KerryMediaCenter/Read.aspx?ID=3991).
- ^ He and Gus Kinnear were the only four-star admirals to appear on stage among a group of flag officers. They are announced 43 minutes into the convention: "Republican National Convention, Day 4 - C-SPAN Video Library". www.c-spanarchives.org. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
- ^ "300 Retired Generals And Admirals Endorse John McCain For President". September 27, 2008. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
- ^ "Steven ("Steve") Angelo White". Daily Progress. Retrieved 19 February 2021.