Gauss to Run Navy NGEN Acquisition

Retired Rear Adm. John Gauss, who commanded the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center from 1998 to 2001 and served as chief information officer of the Veterans Affairs Department from 2001 to 2003, will run the acquisition for the Navy's Next Generation Enterprise Network. Rear Adm. John Goodwin, assistant chief of naval operations for NGEN, told the Naval IT Day conference yesterday in Tysons Corner, Va.

Goodwin also announced at the conference, which was held by the AFCEA Northern Virginia Chapter, that Capt. Gretchen Herbert, who did a tour as C4I chief for Carrier Strike Group Seven on the USS Ronald Reagan, will run NGEN's operations division, and Capt. Mark Sanford will run the program, plans and policy division.

NGEN is designed to replace the Navy Marine Corps Intranet, a contract held by the EDS division of Hewlett-Packard. Goodwin asked the audience not to confuse him with retired Rear Adm. James Godwin (one "o"), who ran the NMCI program office from 2004 to 2006.

Goodwin told the AFCEA audience, "I can't tell you how many people have welcomed me back to the [Navy network] business," confusing him with Godwin. For the record, Goodwin pointed out that he's much shorter and more hair-challenged than Godwin, who's a former shipmate.