Carlos Del Toro, a Cuban-born Navy veteran and CEO of a technology solutions company, is one of the leading candidates to be elected by President Joe Biden for Secretary of the Navy, according to the website Political.
After arriving in the United States from Cuba in 1962, Del Toro became the first Hispanic to serve as the first captain of an Aegis cruiser or destroyer, a career that included deployments to the Middle East during Operation Desert Storm.
The Biden administration recently announced its intention to nominate two of the three military service secretaries: Christine Wormuth, who would become the first Secretary of the Army, and Frank Kendall to lead the Air Force.
But Biden’s team has so far been silent on the candidates who will lead the US Navy.
“The administration is focused on electing a person of color for the Navy job,” Politico said.
The White House has recently been considering two Latinos for secretaries of the Navy: Del Toro, president and CEO of contractor SBG Technology Solutions and president of the White House Fellows Foundation; and Juan Garcia, a former member of the Texas House of Representatives who oversaw the personnel and reserves affairs of the Department of the Navy in the Obama administration.
If any of them are confirmed, they would be among the highest-ranking Latinos in the Defense Department and only the second Latino to become secretary of the Navy. The first, according to the Navy, was Eduardo Hidalgo, who held the position during the Carter administration.
Del Toro was born in Havana, Cuba, and immigrated to the United States in 1962. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1983 and served numerous deployments at sea.
His service included a tour of the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm, according to a biography by the Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation.
The Navy faces a number of problems to be solved in the immediate future that will demand greater attention from uniformed and civilian leaders, such as those in the White House.
Decisions include implementing a $ 21 billion plan to repair and upgrade old shipyards, develop new classes of submarines, frigates and hundreds of unmanned ships, while progressing on the construction and deployment of the new Columbia-class submarine and class aircraft carrier.