Admiral James G. “Jamie” Foggo, USN (Ret.)

World of Experience

Senior Executive who achieved the rank of Four Star Admiral.  Last active duty assignment included three commands with a span of control over U. S. Navy maritime and Joint NATO Forces in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.  An accomplished strategist, innovator, diplomat, and technology integrator. Possesses uncanny ability to work with people of diverse skillsets, backgrounds, and motivations. A dynamic agent for change, with unique qualifications that will facilitate the objectives of any organization—large or small. An experienced strategic communicator and author published in several recent and internationally renowned periodicals. Appeared in prime time social media slots as an advocate for national security with ABC, NBC, CNN and CBS (60 Minutes). Creator of an award winning PODCAST with over 25K listeners. Qualified Nuclear Engineer with advanced degrees in public administration and international affairs. Fluent in the French language and completely at ease operating in international organizations or multi-cultural settings. 

Proven Skill Sets and Attributes

Global Perspective. NATO Commander of a Headquarters representing 30 Allied member countries and 41 Partner nations. Conducted operations on three continents and liaised with key international leadership including Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, Chiefs of Defense, Commanders of Armies, Navies and Air Forces and a multitude of Ambassadors.  Built relationships with International Organizations and NGO’s to include the African Union, European Union, and the United Nations.  

Team Builder. Planned and executed Exercise TRIDENT JUNCTURE in 2018 as the Commander of 50,000 personnel to include 70 ships, 250 combat aircraft and 10,000 vehicles constituting the largest NATO Exercise in the North Atlantic and Scandinavia—massive logistics operation credited as one of the most significant and successful of its kind since the end of the Cold War.

Social Media Master.  Powerful and proven communicator.  Featured as U.S. and NATO spokesperson on CNN, NBC and ABC news multiple times.  Exclusive interview on 60 Minutes with CBS Correspondent David Martin during Exercise Trident Juncture.  My original PODCAST with over 25,000 listeners, recently won Chief of Naval Information Award for best in “Web-based Informational Campaign.”  Published in numerous manuscripts and magazines to include PROCEEDINGS, Royal United Services Institute, US Naval Institute Blog, Seapower Magazine and others. 

Maximizes Return on Investment. Instantiated one of the first Congressionally mandated Audit programs of Navy infrastructure and accounts; enabled Navy Program Oversight Memorandum (POM) Resources Management Meetings under the new POM construct.  Final authority for expenditure of $200 M budget at Naval Forces Europe/Africa and NATO’s Joint Force Command, Naples, Italy.  

Interpersonal Savvy. Coordinated Navy Staff Human Resources and Human Capital Strategy; daily scheduling of the OPNAV Staff Boards, Bureaus and Cells.  Cultivated cooperative relationships between different Service cultures and offices of civilian oversight inside and outside of the Pentagon.  

Manages Complexity. Commander of all NATO Maritime activity in the Mediterranean, Baltic Sea and Black Sea connecting a variety of platforms by creating innovative modems for interoperability and managing multilateral systems for logistics resource requirements. Commander of BALTOPS 2015 and 2016—the first time since 1973 that the Strike Force NATO Commander assumed command of one of the largest exercises conducted in over 40 years in the Baltic Sea with 5,500 personnel and fifty ships in participation. 

 Geostrategic Thinker. Principal architect for the Navy Strategy re-write in 2013—A Cooperative Strategy for the 21st Century (CS-21R).  This enduring strategy was in place for five years.  

Proven Negotiator. U.S. Navy’s Chief interlocutor for negotiations with the Chinese Navy on “Rules of Behavior in the Maritime Domain” which led to a Presidential Accord between Presidents Obama and Xi at the ASEAN Summit in 2015.

Leadership and Management Experience

Commander Naval Forces Europe and Africa, Naples, Italy (20 OCT 2017 to 2020)

Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples, Italy (20 OCT 2017 to present)

Commanded three organizations across an enormous expanse of territory from the North Pole to the Cape of Good Hope and from the mid-Atlantic to the shores of the Crimea in the Black Sea and into the Middle East and Iraq.  Accountable for 35,000 personnel and fourteen operational bases or missions in eleven different countries.  Enabled Full Operational Capability of NATO Strategic Direction SOUTH HUB for Middle East and Africa.  

Director, U.S. Navy Staff, Washington, D.C.  (November 2016 to October 2017)

Drove the day-to-day operation of the Navy Staff in Washington, D.C. on matters of policy, legislative affairs, budget development and execution, personnel, equipment, supply, training, nuclear command and control (NC3), networks and awards.   Direct report to the Chief of Naval Operations and empowered to maintain cooperation and connectivity with other Service Staffs, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of the Navy Staff and Office of the Secretary of Defense.  Provided oversight for operation and maintenance of USS CONSITITUION—the oldest commissioned vessel in the United States Navy. 

Commander, U. S. SIXTH FLEET, Naples, Italy and Commander, Allied Striking and Support Forces NATO, Lisbon, Portugal (December 2014 to October 2016)

Commander of U. S. Navy Sixth Fleet and Commander of Strike Force NATO from two distinct headquarters in Naples, Italy and Lisbon, Portugal.  Accountable for operations and maintenance of command ship USS MOUNT WHITNEY; all Forward Deployed Naval Forces (U. S. Navy Destroyers), and Auxiliary Vessels.  Responsible for all associated operations in the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and associated African territorial waters. First NATO Commander to lead Exercise BALTOPS in the Baltic Sea (2015 and 2016) with 5,000 personnel and 50 warships.  Direct report to Commander European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) for full spectrum joint maritime operations and command and control of maritime Ballistic Missile Defense, primarily through integration of U.S. naval and amphibious forces, in order to provide assurance, deterrence, and collective defense for the NATO Alliance.

Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Strategy, Plans, and Policy (July 2013 to November 2014)

Principal interlocutor for U.S. Navy Strategy, Plans and Policy and day-to-day operations of the global numbered Fleets.  Designed and wrote the Navy’s Cooperative Strategy for the 21st Century (CS-21R), an enduring document that transcended two Chiefs of Naval Operations and five years of maritime relevance.  Principal Navy Interlocutor for negotiation of the first-ever Standards of Behavior in the Maritime Domain agreement, signed by the Presidents of the United States and China at the ASEAN Summit in 2015. 

Director of Assessments (N-81) (June 2012 to July 2013)

Responsible for Program Office Memorandum (POM) budget assessments and Navy Analytical Agenda.  Director of an elite staff of over 140 of the Navy’s finest Operations Analysts and Operations Researchers charged with the responsibility of assessing all Navy programs for  warfighting and cost efficiency effectiveness.  Produced the Navy “Enhanced Carrier Presence (ECP)” Study in 2012, providing OSD with options to increase Navy aircraft carrier presence around the globe.  Personally briefed the Secretary of Defense on the ECP final product which facilitated a $3.5 B plus-up in resources for the Navy POM. 

Commander, Submarine Group EIGHT; Commander, Allied Submarines SOUTH (NATO); Deputy Commander and Operations Officer (N3) U. S. SIXTH FLEET (September 2010 to June 2012)

Commander of all U. S. and NATO Submarine Operations in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Theaters.  Operations Officer for all operations of the U. S. SIXTH Fleet in the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Baltic and Black Seas and African Territorial Waters.  During Crisis Action Operations, I became the Joint Task Force ODYESSEY DAWN Operations Officer (J-3) for the 2011 Libya Campaign and later became the Task Force Commander for NATO during submarine operations in the Gulf of Sidra during NATO’s follow-on Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR in Libya.  

Executive Officer, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Belgium (July 2009 to July 2010)

Served as the one-star Executive Officer to Admiral James Stavridis, Supreme Allied Commander SHAPE HQ and Commander U.S. EUCOM in Mons, Belgium and Stuttgart, Germany.  Responsible for SACEUR’s daily schedule, travel, engagement calendar, talking points, congressional or North Atlantic Council testimony and all record keeping while on a rigid and engaging travel schedule throughout the theater of operations.  

Executive Assistant, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (September 2007 to July 2009)

Executive Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen.  CJCS’s trusted agent who accompanied him on all of his domestic and foreign travel (156 trips in two years) spanning the globe to places including Iraq, Afghanistan, India, South America, Europe and Africa.  Frequently the only trusted agent in the room with Admiral Mullen and Heads of State or Ministers of Defense, serving as the Chairman’s corporate memory and alter-ego.  

Prior assignments include Commodore, Submarine Squadron Six, Norfolk, VA; Executive Assistant to the Director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion (Naval Reactors); Senior Member of the Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board (NPEB), Norfolk, VA; Commanding Officer, USS OKLAHOMA CITY (SSN-723) a Los-Angeles Class Fast Attack Submarine—won the Admiral Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy for the most improved warship in the Atlantic Fleet and the Battle Efficiency “E” for the top performing submarine in the Squadron.  

Education

• Graduate, MIT Seminar XXI Program (2014)
• Moreau Scholar, Georgetown University, Department of Government (1998)
• MPA, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (1986)
• Olmsted Scholar, University of Strasbourg, France.  MA Institut d’Etudes Politiques (1989)
• BS Chemistry, United States Naval Academy (1981)
• University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler, Executive Development Course
• Leadership at the Peak, Center for Creative Leadership, Colorado

Awards

• Commander of the Cross of Saint George (Portugal)
• Commander of the Order of Merit (Italian Republic)
• Knight of the Grand Cross, the Royal Order of Francis
• Knight of the Legion of Honor (France)
• Knight of the National Order of Merit (France)
• Defense Distinguished Service Medal; Navy Distinguished Service Medal (2*)
• Defense Superior Service Medal (2*)
• Legion of Merit (3*);
  Meritorious Service Medal (2*)
• Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2*)
• Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal;
  Joint Meritorious Unit Award
• Meritorious Unit Commendation
• NATO Meritorious Service Medal (1*)
• NATO Medal
• State of Oklahoma Distinguished Service Medal