Carlos Del Toro, secretary of the Navy and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, has directed the creation of a 30-year plan to modernize naval infrastructure and address a wide range of challenges facing the department in upgrading its piers, bases and other structural assets, Defense One reported Thursday.
Speaking at the West 2023 conference in San Diego, Del Toro said the multi-year plan will enable the Navy to “take a long-term, medium-term, short-term view” on the department’s most pressing problems and highest priorities in infrastructure modernization.
“It’s about identifying what the worst problems are, right? And trying to address those worst problems first so that they don’t become catastrophic,” Del Toro said.
During the conference, Del Toro spotlighted the Navy’s existing Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program, an ongoing effort to upgrade its aging public shipyards into modern facilities.
The initiative focuses on the recapitalization and reconfiguration of four shipyards to “improve the timely return of ships and submarines back to the fleet following maintenance and modernization,” according to Naval Sea Systems Command’s website.
“If we’re going to get better as a Navy, as a military, as a nation, we’ve got to get real about the infrastructure problems that we face,” said Del Toro.
