First woman to lead US Navy reflects on her career milestones

For nearly four decades, Admiral Lisa Franchetti has been a trailblazer in the US Navy, charting her own course since 1985 when she completed the Naval ROTC program at Northwestern University. At the time, there was only one female Admiral. There was even a law that barred women from serving on combat ships. But that never stopped the young recruit from setting her sights far beyond the horizon. Once the ban was lifted in 1993, she quickly rose through the ranks and redefined what was possible for women in the Navy. She'd go on to lead at every level, commanding destroyers, carrier strike groups and the entire US Sixth Fleet, where she faced some of America's biggest adversaries at sea. Her path has taken her around the world, from Asia to Africa and now all the way to the Pentagon. Last year, President Biden nominated the four-star Admiral to lead the Navy. And after a Senate confirmation hearing, it has been the honor of my lifetime to command at every level of our Navy. She was officially sworn in as the new Chief of Naval Operations in November. Congratulations. Becoming the first woman ever to assume the Navy's top position and the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Her history, making career, all made possible through the support of her family, including her husband Jim and her daughter Isabel. Jim and Isabel, thank you for your inspiration every day. I always say that families are the glue that holds our Navy together, and I know in my case, that glue is extra strong. Admiral Franchetti's dedication to ServiceNow inspiring the next generation. When you're young, you think your life is going to be like I-95, but our life really is more like the Potomac. It's wisey, it has lots of turns, but if you know what you want to do and you have your eyes open to all the possibilities that you can achieve all those things that you want to do in your own life. Admiral Francredi, good morning. It's such an honor to have you here. Good morning. It's wonderful to be here today with you. Well, we just saw your rise through the ranks, your remarkable career. But let's just go back to where it really started on a on a row. You were the Coxon of an all male rowing team, a rowing boat back in the day. We have the picture there you were. So it's a little bit foreshadowing. It definitely was. You know, when I was back at Northwestern, I was a journalism major. I actually wanted to be you one day. And you know, across a chance meeting with some ROTC students really got me on the path to where I am today. But the rowing team, it definitely was because, you know, as a Coxon, you are responsible for training with your boat, leading your boat, building a great team and motivating them through a lot of adversity. And I liked you. I think you look like, yeah, big fans. When you walked in this morning, we couldn't help but watch as you walked by and you were high fiving all the members of the military who were outside. It is Fleet Week. Do you just stop for a second and reflect on where you started back in the day and where you are today? I definitely do. First, it's an honor to lead our amazing team. We've got about 600,000 active and reserve sailors and civilians and they are an incredible America's warfighting Navy. And I never thought I could have done this. In fact, when I joined the Navy, there were a lot of laws in place, yeah, that really didn't allow women to serve in combatant positions that would enable me to get to this job one day. So I was just fortunate always in the right place at the right time with the right different experiences that when the laws changed and policy changed, I was able to walk right through those doors and move on really to command a destroyer and a lot of other things along the way. What was it? Because it was it was a man's job back then, the well until you had it, it was a man's job. And rising through the ranks, did you encounter resistance And, you know, do you remember any of that and how you handled it? Well, I would say really only at the very, very beginning of my career when women were first serving on ships. It was new. And, you know, people weren't used to that idea. Not everybody was a fan of it back then. But when I Fast forward now, you know, 38 years later, you know, women are serving everywhere. In our Navy, we have women on submarines now you can be a pilot. We I just met one of our Blue Angels that's a a woman. S there really is nothing that did you deal with it back in the day? We've all kind of come through. There was a certain period of time where we're like, we've got to have our suit of armor on. We got to kind of push our way through. How did you deal with those times? Well, you know, when I was younger, I saw this quote from Admiral Nimitz and it said, learn all you can, do your best and don't worry about what you can't control. And I think if you just focus on getting all the experiences, staying positive, all everything else will fall into place. Really, your job now is about naval readiness around the world. What keeps you up at night? What, what's your, your number one concern? Well, I'm always concerned about our people. You know, we can have great platforms, we can have all the best equipment and everything in the world, but without those amazing people that operate it, really our Navy doesn't go anywhere and do everything. So I'm worried about our folks all the time. I'm worried about their quality of life. I'm worried about their families. And I'm making sure that they have all the training that they need to be able to do our mission every single day. Well, recruitment is a big issue. I mean, in the Navy, set some goals, didn't meet them last year. Now you've raised those goals even higher. So here's your moment. What's your pitch for a life in the Navy you have lived? Oh, well, the Navy just provides an incredible amount of opportunities. You know, we have about 150 different specialties that you can be in. I just created a new robotics rating. We have cyber warriors. You can work in a hospital. You can be a nuclear engineer. You can drive ships like me, serve on submarines, and really serve all around the world. I think, you know, our Navy, a lot of people don't get to see it. Maybe we have a little sea blindness because if you don't live near the Navy, you don't know what we do. But we're deployed all around the world. We preserve the peace. We're ready to respond in a crisis and if necessary, when decisively in war. And I couldn't be more proud of that team. We have people operating in the Western Pacific right now with one carrier strike group. We have another one going around South America right now. And of course, we have the USS Eisenhower Kara strike group with her ships leading Operation Prosperity Guardian there in the Red Sea to protect the free flow of commerce. And your Navy is out there every day protecting our way of life. And I couldn't be more proud of the team. Admiral, we're so happy you came to see us today. Thank you so much.