Robert O. Work
Photo: US Department of Defense, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons14

Robert O. Work

American marine, military strategist and politician (born 1953)

Robert Orton Work (born January 17, 1953) is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that, Work was the United States' Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013, and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps; Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Robert O. Work (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Jan 17, 1953.1

About

From 2013 to 2014, he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense, he went on to serve on the board of Raytheon. As of October 2023, he serves on the Special Competitive Studies Project's board of advisors.

From Wikipedia’s article on Robert O. Work, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

  • RTXBoard member 2020 to now10
  • RaytheonBoard member Aug 15, 2017 to Apr 7, 202011

Holdings

Stock this person has reported owning, from the forms officers and directors file with the SEC. See the biggest insider stakes.

Shares held

  • RTX RTX0 shares12Apr 8, 2020

As of each latest filing. The line shows shares held over time.

Recent filings

  • Apr 3, 2020Granted 4,968 shares of RTX13

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedUniversity of Illinois System3
  • Date not recordedNaval Postgraduate School3
  • Date not recordedPaul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies3
  • Date not recordedUniversity of Southern California3

Work was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on January 17, 1953. He attended the University of Illinois and earned a B.S. in Biology. Work later earned an M.S. in Systems Management from the University of Southern California; an M.S. in Space System Operations from the Naval Postgraduate School; and a master's degree in International Policy from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.

From Wikipedia’s article on Robert O. Work (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

  • Since 2020Board member, RTX6
  • 2014 to 2017United States Deputy Secretary of Defense7
  • Date not recordedWorked at United States Department of the Navy4
  • Date not recordedWorked at George Washington University4
  • Date not recordedWorked at United States Department of Defense4
  • Date not recordedFounded Project Maven5
  • Date not recordedUnder Secretary of the Navy7

Military career

Work's military service began while he was an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, where he was a member of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of the United States Marine Corps in September 1974.

Work spent 27 years in the Marines, holding a variety of positions. He commanded an artillery battery, then an artillery battalion. He rose to become base commander of Camp Fuji; the first head of the Marine Corps' Strategic Initiatives Group, a small analytical group that provided advice directly to the Commandant of the Marine Corps; and, in his highest military posting, as Military Assistant and Special Aide to United States Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig. In 1997–1998, he attended MIT Seminar XXI. Work's rank when he retired from the Marines in 2001 was colonel.

Civilian career

He joined the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) as a senior fellow for maritime affairs. He later became the CSBA's vice president for strategic studies. He also took a position as an adjunct professor at George Washington University, teaching defense analysis and roles and missions of the armed forces. During this period, Work wrote and spoke extensively on naval and marine strategy. He also directed and analyzed war games for the Office of Net Assessment and for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He participated in the Quadrennial Defense Review in 2006. Work's work has focused on defense strategy; proposals to restructure the Department of Defense; and maritime affairs.

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Under Secretary of the Navy

During the presidential transition of Barack Obama, Work was a member of the Department of Defense Transition Team, focusing on the transition at the United States Department of the Navy. President Barack Obama nominated Work as Under Secretary of the Navy and Work was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 19, 2009.

Work has criticized former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for assuming that the United States would always have an advantage in guided weapons and, as such, be able to quickly defeat any foe.

In July 2011, Work called into question the navy's plans for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, asking if the numbers or types could be reduced in favor of more unmanned systems.

In 2012, after submitting a budget request that reduced submarine construction, Work said that only a submarine could operate in the Taiwan Strait during a conflict with China.

In 2013, the Center for a New American Security announced that Work would be their new CEO as of April 22, 2013.

Deputy Secretary of Defense

On February 7, 2014, President Obama nominated Work to become Deputy Secretary of Defense.

In October 2014, Deputy Secretary Work instructed the Defense Business Board to hire consultants from McKinsey & Company to identify wasteful spending. McKinsey discovered DoD was spending $134 billion, 23% of its total budget, on back-office work, and that the back-office bureaucracy staff of over one million people was nearly as great as the number of active duty troops. On January 22, 2015, the board then voted to recommend adoption of McKinsey's five-year plan to cut $125 billion in waste.

However, after Secretary Chuck Hagel was replaced by Ash Carter the next month, Deputy Secretary Work expressed his concerns that any gain from savings achieved would then be removed from the defense budget by Congress. Under Secretary Frank Kendall III argued that he could not achieve any efficiencies and, instead, that he needed to hire 1,000 more staff. Secretary Carter then replaced the board chairman, classified the McKinsey results as secret, and removed the report from public websites.

When James Mattis became defense secretary in January 2017, he asked Work to remain as deputy in order to complete several tasks, including preparing an amendment for additional funding in fiscal year 2017 and preparing the fiscal year 2018 budget for submittal in May 2017. This may have marked the first time in history when the top three posts at the Pentagon – secretary, deputy secretary, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs – were held by Marines.

National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence

From 2019 to 2021, Work co-chaired the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence with Eric Schmidt.

Awards and accolades

On March 21, 2013, Robert Work was presented with the Navy Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Department of the Navy's highest award for civilians.

At a farewell ceremony in the Pentagon's auditorium on January 13, 2017, outgoing Defense Secretary Carter pinned Work with the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Pentagon's highest award for a civilian.

In December 2019 Work was presented with the Swedish Royal Order of the Polar Star by defense minister Peter Hultqvist.

From Wikipedia’s article on Robert O. Work (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornJan 17, 1953, Charlotte8
  • CitizenshipUnited States9

Sources

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    Wikidata and SEC EDGARRTX, Board member
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