Senate approves Navy network leader

Just weeks after he was nominated, the Senate has approved Navy Vice Adm. Richard Mayo to head the new command responsible for all the service's information technology networks, information operations and space requirements.

Mayo will lead the Naval Network Warfare Command, which was created by Navy Secretary Gordon England in February. The command is scheduled to begin operations by June, with headquarters at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Norfolk, Va.

Mayo has been the director of space and electronic warfare for the chief of naval operations in the Pentagon since August 1999.

Navy officials have stressed that creation of the new command signals a recognition of the importance of networks and space and how critical both are to missions.

Mayo, a native of Falls Church, Va., previously was the Navy's deputy director and fleet liaison for space, information warfare, command and control.

The Naval Network Warfare Command is seen as an effort to align the staff members needed to support the concept of one naval network and to support that network's end-to-end operational management, Navy officials said.