GovernmentExecutive.com

The Navy on Tuesday named Rear Adm. Timothy Flynn as its program executive officer for enterprise information systems, a job that entails overseeing the massive Navy Marine Corps Intranet program.

Flynn is vice commander of the San Diego-based Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command, one of the Navy's five major acquisition organizations. He is expected to enter his new Washington, D.C.-based position in the early fall.

Flynn will replace Rear Adm. James Godwin, who announced his retirement earlier this year after a more than 30-year Navy career, capped by working out a three-year contract extension for the multibillion-dollar computer network.

Flynn has been responsible for the development and acquisition of military information technology systems for the Navy, Marine Corps and joint service programs since August 2005. Before that, he was the commanding officer of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in San Diego, a subset of the larger acquisition organization.

He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1979 with a degree in marine engineering. He also has master's degrees in national security affairs and mechanical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.

As the Navy's program executive officer for enterprise information systems, Flynn will be reporting to Delores Etter, assistant Navy secretary for research, development and acquisition.

The position was created earlier this year to provide executive leadership for NMCI. It also entails oversight of Navy Enterprise Resource Planning, a program supporting applications to manage product planning, inventories and other business functions, and ONENet, a secure IT infrastructure.

Of the programs Flynn will oversee, NMCI has garnered the greatest amount of attention because of controversies and delays in its implementation.

Under Godwin's leadership, user satisfaction failed to improve substantially, according to surveys. At the time of his appointment, satisfaction was approaching a point that would have allowed Electronic Data Systems, the program's contractor, to receive incentive payments.

Mike Koehler, the contractor's NMCI enterprise client executive, said in a statement that he looks forward to "continuing our strong, working relationship with the NMCI team and welcomes Rear Adm. Flynn to the program."

COMMENTS

• What is the best thing about deploying to Iraq? Not having to deal with NMCI crap! NMCI jeopardizes operational readiness and national security, and defrauds the American taxpayers. Just so you know. Jeff Skjelver Posted October 14, 2006 12:29 PM
• I recently retired because the Navy decided to close our office. As we were shutting down it was a fairly common statement that one good thing about leaving was "no more NMCI." I had to retire early with a reduced retirement. If I decide to go back to work with the federal government, I will probably avoid the Defense Department and I would never consider a Navy job that used NMCI. GovExec.com reader Posted August 15, 2006 8:36 PM
• The Navy can send in all the flag officers they want and the NMCI will always be a complete failure. We would all be better off to give EDS all the money they have bargained and go back to the original programs and the United States would be better off. I forgot, the Navy never admits defeat, too bad. rds Posted August 3, 2006 9:21 PM