Gary Roughead ( "rough head"; born July 15, 1951) is a former

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

officer who served as the 29th

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

from 2007 to 2011. He previously served as Commander, United States Fleet Forces Command from May 17 to September 29, 2007. Prior to that, Roughead served as the 31st Commander, United States Pacific Fleet from 2005 to 2007. In 2011, he retired from the U.S. Navy after 38 years of service.

Early life and education

Roughhead was born July 15, 1951, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. Roughead graduated from high school at Valley Forge Military Academy in

Wayne, Pennsylvania Wayne is an unincorporated community centered in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, on the Main Line, a series of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs located along the railroad tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad and one of the ...

, in 1969. He is a 1973 graduate of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

and a Surface Warfare Officer.

Career

Roughead's initial assignment was in the Weapons Department aboard . This was followed by duty as executive officer on the patrol gunboats and , the former home-ported in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy. He was the commissioning chief engineer aboard and executive officer on board . Roughead's tours ashore include assignments as flag lieutenant to the Commander, Naval Surface Force Atlantic in the United States Atlantic Fleet, the Surface Warfare Analyst at the Navy's Office of Program Appraisal, administrative aide to the U.S. Secretary of the Navy, executive assistant to the Commander, Naval Surface Force Pacific, commandant,

, the Department of the Navy's chief of legislative affairs; and deputy commander, United States Pacific Command. Roughead was the commissioning commanding officer of the Aegis Combat System destroyer , and, upon assuming command of the cruiser , he became the first naval officer to command both classes of Aegis ships. While he was in command, ''Port Royal'' was awarded a Meritorious Unit Commendation and received the Golden Anchor Award for excellence in retention and crew support programs. He was Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group Two and the Carrier Battle Group, deploying to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

and

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. His latest assignment afloat was as Commander, United States Second Fleet and Commander,

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Striking Fleet Atlantic and Commander, Naval Forces North Fleet East in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

; he was nominated to head the Fleet Forces Command on March 19, 2007. On September 2, 2005, Roughead was a keynote speaker at the End of World War II Commemoration aboard the battleship Memorial on Ford Island in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Chief of Naval Operations

On September 29, 2007, Roughead was appointed

. In January 2009, Roughead attended the inaugural parade of Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. In 2011, Roughead retired from the U.S. Navy after 38 years of service and was succeeded in his post as

by Admiral Jonathan Greenert.

Post-Navy career

After retirement, Roughead became a board member of Theranos, a now-defunct privately held

health technology Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of liv ...

company known for its false claims to have devised revolutionary

blood test A blood test is a medical laboratory, laboratory analysis performed on a blood sample that is usually extracted from a vein in the arm using a hypodermic needle, or via fingerprick. Multiple tests for specific blood components, such as a glucose ...

s using very small amounts of blood. He sits on the executive committee of the Maritime Policy and Strategy Research Center (HMS). Roughhead is a distinguished fellow at the

Hoover Institution The Hoover Institution (officially The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace and formerly The Hoover Institute and Library on War, Revolution, and Peace) is an American public policy think tank which promotes personal and economic ...

, a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

, and a member of the Board of Managers for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Awards and decorations

Roughead is also a distinguished recipient of the "Bob Hope Five Star Award for Distinguished Service to America."
The Asian-American Government Executives Network (AAGEN) recognized Roughead with the AAGEN Excellence in Public Service Award June 10, 2010.

References

External links

Official Navy biography

Gary Roughead
profile at whorunsgov.com (''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'') * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Roughead, Gary 1951 births Living people Chiefs of Naval Operations Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Joint Chiefs of Staff Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Theranos people United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy admirals Valley Forge Military Academy and College alumni Recipients of the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera)