James Basil "Gib" Godwin III (born February 6, 1951), a retired Rear Admiral (upper half) of the

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 ...

, was the Program Executive Officer – Enterprise Information Systems of the

Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was esta ...

. His responsibilities included oversight of the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet.

Early life

Born in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

and raised in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, Godwin graduated from Churchill High School in 1969. He received a scholarship to play football for

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

, where he played the

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

position and caught the game-winning touchdown pass in a 10–0 upset victory over

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in 1972. Godwin earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

from Tulane in 1973. He was directly commissioned as an Ensign into the

and subsequently received his

Naval Aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

wings in July 1975.

Military career

Godwin's initial tours include numerous fleet assignments with VA-147, VA-122, Air Wing 9, VFA-125, and VFA-25. During those tours, he flew the

A-7 Corsair II The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design wa ...

and the

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

. From March 1991 until June 1992, he served as a Commanding Officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 192 (

VFA-192 Strike Fighter Squadron 192 (VFA-192), also known as the "World Famous Golden Dragons", are a United States Navy Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, F/A-18E Super Hornet fighter squadron stationed at NAS Lemoore. Squadron insignia and nickname The ...

) while embarked on the and the . As a combat veteran during his command tour, Godwin amassed 34

Desert Storm , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

missions. After detaching from VFA-192, he reported to the

Naval Air Systems Command The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) provides materiel support for aeronaval aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy. It is one of the Echelon II Navy systems commands (SYSCOM), and was established in 1966 as the succe ...

(NAVAIR) where he began his career in Navy acquisition. This career path, as the Lead

Systems Engineer Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinkin ...

, Deputy

Program Manager Program Manager is the shell of Windows 3.x and Windows NT 3.x operating systems. This shell exposed a task-oriented graphical user interface (GUI), consisting of ''icons'' ( shortcuts for programs) arranged into ''program groups''. It replaced ...

and ultimately the

F/A-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

Program Manager, led to the position of

Program Executive Officer A program executive officer, or PEO, is one of a few key individuals in the United States military acquisition process. As can be seen from the examples below, a program executive officer may be responsible for a specific program (e.g., the Jo ...

for Tactical Aircraft (PEO(T)) in April 2000, which included the procurement of all tactical aircraft and weapons systems on the Navy's aircraft carriers. In addition, Godwin co-led the

NAVAIR The Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) provides materiel support for aeronaval aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the United States Navy. It is one of the Echelon II Navy systems commands (SYSCOM), and was established in 1966 as the succe ...

Warfighter Focus Group, which was tasked with balancing near-term and future readiness of the aviation fleet. Godwin managed a network of aviation technology experts and program managers, tasked with delivering tactical aircraft and weapon systems to the fleet. These programs included delivering the cornerstone of Naval Aviation,

F/A-18E/F Super Hornet The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are a series of American supersonic twinjet, twin-engine, Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft derived from the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Ho ...

, as well as the early operational fielding of the Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared,

Multifunctional Information Distribution System Multifunctional Information Distribution System (MIDS) is the NATO name for the communication component of Link 16, Link-16 developed by Xetron. MIDS is an advanced command, control, communications, computing and intelligence (C4I) system incorpo ...

, the Shared Reconnaissance Pod, Improved Capability III Airborne Electronic Attack system, and latest version of the

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder is a short-range air-to-air missile. Entering service with the United States Navy in 1956 and the Air Force in 1964, the AIM-9 is one of the oldest, cheapest, and most successful air-to-air missiles. Its latest variants rema ...

missile, the AIM-9X. Systems under development included the Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar for the Super Hornet, an Electronically Scanned Radar for the E-2 Advanced Hawkeye, and the U.S Navy's replacement for the

EA-6B Prowler The Northrop Grumman (formerly Grumman) EA-6B Prowler is a twin-engine, four-seat, mid-wing electronic-warfare aircraft. Operated by both the United States Marine Corps and United States Navy between 1971 and 2019, it was derived from the A- ...

, the

EA-18G Growler The Boeing EA-18G Growler is an American aircraft carrier, carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft, a specialized version of the two-seat Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet. The EA-18G replaced the Northrop Grumman EA- ...

aircraft. Godwin assumed command as the Director of the Navy Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI) in September 2004. In May 2005 under a reorganization, he was named Direct Reporting Program Manager for NMCI, and under another reorganization in February he became the Program Executive Officer Enterprise Information Systems. He was a direct report to the Assistant

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

for Research, Development and Acquisition and was responsible for delivering an enterprise-wide computer network for Navy and Marine Corps, one of the most transformational contracting initiatives ever undertaken by the Department of the Navy. With the goal of connecting approximately 400,000 "seats," the NMCI network is the largest single integrated network in the world and represents the largest federal information technology contract ever awarded. Godwin retired from active duty in 2006.

Awards and accolades

His awards include the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

(four awards),

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: Singapore *Pingat Jasa Gemilang, or Meritorious Services Me ...

(two awards),

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

with Strike/Flight (three awards),

(with Combat "V"),

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

(three awards including one Combat "V"),

Navy Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to rece ...

, Navy Expert Pistol Medal, and several unit awards and citations.

Personal

Godwin is the son of James Basil Godwin Jr. and Cora Lee "Corky" (Leutwyler) Godwin. His father was a naval aviator during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, serving as a Coronado Flying Boat pilot. Godwin and his wife Karen have four children.

References

Official Navy biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godwin, James 1951 births Living people Military personnel from Fort Worth, Texas Tulane Green Wave football players Military personnel from San Antonio United States Naval Aviators United States Navy personnel of the Gulf War Recipients of the Air Medal American systems engineers Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy rear admirals (upper half)