Thomas Modly

Thomas B. Modly is an American businessman and government official who has served as Acting United States Secretary of the Navy since November 24, 2019.

Modly, who was confirmed as the United States Under Secretary of the Navy on December 4, 2017, performed the duties of the Secretary of the Navy while Richard V. Spencer was Acting Secretary of Defense and Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense from July 15, 2019, to July 31, 2019.

Modly is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Georgetown University, and Harvard Business School. He served on active duty in the United States Navy as a helicopter pilot and spent seven years as a U.S. Navy officer. He has held various leadership positions at Iconixx, Oxford Associates, and UNC Inc., and taught political science at the United States Air Force Academy.

Modly served as the managing director of the PricewaterhouseCoopers global government and public services sector and as the firm's global government defense network leader. He has served as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Financial Management and as the first executive director of the Defense Business Board.

He was nominated to become Navy Undersecretary by President Donald Trump in September 2017 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate two months later.

On April 2, 2020, as Acting Secretary of the Navy, Modly dismissed Capt. Brett Crozier, who commanded the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt,due to loss of confidence after an email, pleading for help and decisive actions from the Navy command when an outbreak of COVID-19 infected 114 sailors onboard, was leaked outside the chain of command. Modly then "blasted" Crozier in an in-person speech to the crew, over the ship’s PA, on April 6, calling Crozier "too naive or too stupid" to be in command of a ship.