Following Senate confirmation, Fletcher grad becomes Undersecretary of the Navy

Washington [07.30.01] -- Last week, Navy officials swore in Susan Morrisey Livingstone as the nation's 29th Undersecretary of the Navy, making the graduate of Tufts' Fletcher School the second most powerful person in the 226-year-old organization.

   The 30-year veteran of government and civic service has an impressive record of accomplishments, which is expected to be put to the test almost immediately by a host of pressing issues -- including the Navy's future on the Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico.

   During her confirmation hearings in June, the chair of the Senate's Armed Forces Committee said Livingstone is ready to handle the demands of one of the Navy's most demanding posts.

   "Ms. Livingstone will be the No. 2 official in the Department of the Navy," said Democratic Senator and Committee Chair Carl Levin. "[She] has impressive credentials and appears to be well qualified to take on these challenges."

   Among the biggest: the future of the Vieques Island bombing range and the management of Navy airspace over the U.S.

   Livingstone said she expects to meet the issues head on.

   "I perceive my role as being the strongest possible advocate on behalf of the Navy and Marine Corps, in terms of meeting their training needs," Livingstone told the Senate committee. "I think there's no substitute for the ability to train as they fight, which would include live fire."

   And the Navy needs to examine the issue carefully.

   "Vieques, as you know, is a very unique training range or capability, in terms of providing not only integrated, but also combined arms training," she said.

   But Sen. John Warner, the ranking Republican on the committee, said Vieques won't be the only issue facing Livingstone in the near future.

   "You know the essential need for [the Vieques training site] to maintaining our readiness. The same with our airspaces here at home," Warner said. "With the commercial air system growing so rapidly, and its juxtaposition in many instances with our military requirements in airfields, look at it and get ahead of the curve on this thing."

   Livingstone should have no trouble doing just that.

   She brings a wealth of experience from posts in the Navy, Red Cross and Veterans Administration.

   According to Navy officials, the Tufts graduate was CEO of the Association of the U.S. Army before President George W. Bush nominated her this spring. Prior to that job, "Livingston was a leader in the American Red Cross from 1993 to 1998" in several top posts, reported Navy officials.

   The Boston Globe also reported: "As the assistant secretary to the Navy, she was involved in rebuilding Kuwait after the Gulf War."