Acting Navy Secretary Appoints William Toti to Acting Undersecretary Role

Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao appointed retired U.S. Navy Capt. William Toti to perform the duties of the undersecretary of the Navy, according to a statement Cao published Friday on X.

“He has my full trust and authority to drive change, increase efficiency, and accelerate decisions – so we can deliver warfighting capability, support our sailors and marines forward, and defend our nation every day,” the statement reads.

Last month, Cao took on the role of acting Navy secretary following the departure of John Phelan.

Toti is a career submariner who most recently served as senior adviser to Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg, advising on submarine construction matters. He brings more than four decades of defense experience, including 26 years of active-duty service in the Navy.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Toti previously served as CEO of maritime technology developer Sparton and president of the integrated maritime systems sector at L3 Technologies. He also held leadership roles at DXC Technology, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cubic, and Raytheon.