Baciocco, Albert J., Jr., VADM

Albert J. Baciocco, Jr.
Vice Admiral, U. S. Navy (Retired) ----

Vice Admiral Baciocco was born in San Francisco, California, on March 4, 1931. He graduated from Lowell High School and was accepted into Stanford University prior to entering the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, in June 1949. He graduated from the Naval Academy in June 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering, and completed graduate level studies in the field of nuclear engineering in 1958 as part of his training for the naval nuclear propulsion program.

Admiral Baciocco served initially in the heavy cruiser USS SAINT PAUL (CA73) during the final days of the Korean War, and then in the diesel submarine USS WAHOO (SS565) until April of 1957 when he became one of the early officer selectees for the Navy's nuclear submarine program. After completion of his nuclear training, he served in the commissioning crews of three nuclear attack submarines: USS SCORPION (SSN589), as Main Propulsion Assistant (1959-1961); USS BARB (SSN596), as Engineer Officer (1961-1962), then as Executive Officer (1963- 1965); and USS GATO (SSN615), as Commanding Officer (1965-1969). Subsequent at-sea assignments, all headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, included COMMANDER SUBMARINE DIVISION FORTY-TWO (1969-1971), where he was responsible for the operational training readiness of six SSNs; COMMANDER SUBMARINE SQUADRON FOUR (1974-1976), where he was responsible for the operational and material readiness of fifteen SSNs; and COMMANDER SUBMARINE GROUP SIX (1981-1983), where, during the height of the Cold War, he was accountable for the overall readiness of a major portion of the Atlantic Fleet submarine force, including forty SSNs, 20 SSBNs, and various other submarine force commands totaling approximately 20,000 military personnel, among which numbered some forty strategic submarine crews. During this period, in 1982, he served additionally as COMMANDER NAVAL BASE CHARLESTON.

Commencing in 1971, Admiral Baciocco also served ashore in senior technical and management positions within Department of the Navy headquarters in the fields of submarine warfare, antisubmarine warfare, financial management, science and technology, and acquisition. Initially assigned to the Chief of Naval Operations staff within the submarine warfare directorate, he was selected as Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management) and so served until 1974. In 1976, he returned to the Chief of Naval Operations staff and, upon selection to Flag rank in early 1977, became the division director responsible for all matters related to Navy attack submarines and deep submergence systems, including policy, planning, and budgeting for force structure, readiness, modernization, and the supporting infrastructure.

In 1978, the President of the United States nominated and the Senate confirmed Admiral Baciocco as Chief of Naval Research. In this position, he was the responsible official and principal interface with academe for the execution of the Navy's basic research program. He also was responsible for management oversight of the government- sponsored Independent Research & Development conducted by the defense industry. Subsequently assigned additional duty as Deputy Chief of Naval Material (Technology), he established the Office of Naval Technology and effectively became the Navy's Chief Technology Officer, directing the planning and execution of the entire technology base program for the Department of the Navy, then an $800 million annual investment in basic research and exploratory development being conducted in academe, industry and government laboratories. Admiral Baciocco served as Chief of Naval Research until June 1981.

In 1983, Admiral Baciocco was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and appointed as Director, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In this position, he was the Navy Department principal for all research and development, test and evaluation, and acquisition matters. He was responsible for a budget in excess of $10 billion, directing the process and policies that governed the Navy's science and technology programs, the Navy RDT&E infrastructure, and Navy acquisition programs during a period of intense Navy buildup. He was the principal Navy interface with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and a principal advisor on issues related to technology transfer and transition, and to U. S. industrial and manufacturing preparedness as it related to national security and defense. In addition, he served as the Navy's senior military interface with NATO and other allied governments, and with the defense industry for a broad range of technology transfer initiatives and cooperative research and development programs.

While on active duty, Admiral Baciocco was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (with Gold Star in lieu of second award), the Legion of Merit with three Gold Stars, the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Expeditionary Medal, China Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal with star, Korean Service Medal with star, United Nations Medal, and Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and the French National Order of Merit with the rank of Commander.

Admiral Baciocco retired from the United States Navy in 1987 after thirty-four years of commissioned service. Upon retirement, he established The Baciocco Group, Inc., a technical and management consulting practice, and has since remained active in a variety of business and pro bono activities with industry, government and academe, principally related to business and technology planning, investment, management, and implementation.

Until its acquisition by United Technologies Corporation in December 2010, Admiral Baciocco served as a Director of Clipper Windpower plc from its founding in 2001 and becoming a public company in 2005. In August 2007, he retired for the Board of American Superconductor Corporation, where he had served as Director for ten years. In 2005, he became Chairman and a Director of Nekton Research LLC, a high technology startup company, until its purchase by and integration into a public company in 2009. In December 1999, he retired from the Board of Honeywell, Inc., having served as a Director of that Fortune 500 corporation for over eleven years. During 1996, he retired from directorships of the following additional public corporations: Giddings & Lewis, Inc., where he served for five years; and Vectra Technologies, Inc. (formerly Pacific Nuclear Systems, Inc.), where he served for seven years. He also rendered service as a director of Alliant Techsystems, Inc., Shell Exploration & Production Company, Darlington Incorporated, Remedyne Corporation, and Marix Technologies, Inc., each for over two years.

In addition, during 1990-91, he served as President and chief executive of Pacific Nuclear Systems, Inc.

Admiral Baciocco has served on several government and industry advisory boards and committees, including the Defense Science Board, and on committees of the National Research Council. In 2002, he completed ten years service as a Member of the Naval Studies Board of the National Research Council, and subsequently was designated a lifetime National Associate of the National Academies by the Council of the National Academies of Science. In addition, he has served as a Member of the Army Science Board, on various task forces of the Defense Science Board and panels of the Naval Research Advisory Committee. He served for ten years on the Board of Visitors to the Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University; and for four years on the DARPA advisory study group on Information Science and Technology. More recently, he chaired the Undersea Warfare Panel of the Naval Studies Board Future Naval Forces Study and later the Committee on Assessment of Undersea Weapons Science and Technology. He also was a member of Naval Studies Board committees on Naval Mine Warfare and on The Role of Experimentation in Building Future Naval Forces. Most recently, Admiral Baciocco served on the National Research Council Committee on Department of Defense Basic Research and the Committee on Assessment of U.S. Coast Guard Polar Icebreaker Roles and Future Needs.

Admiral Baciocco is a Senior Fellow and Regent of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, an independent not-for- profit public policy research institute located in Arlington, Virginia; a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the South Carolina Research Authority, a state-chartered not-for-profit advanced technology development and management enterprise, and a Director of its affiliated entity, Advanced Technology International. In addition, he serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Research Development at the Medical University of South Carolina. He previously served on the Boards of Directors of the University of South Carolina Research Foundation, where he served for six years; the Oak Ridge Associated Universities, a not- for-profit consortium of over eighty-five universities, where he served six years; and the Waste Policy Institute, an affiliate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, where he served for four years. Admiral Baciocco is a member and past chairman of the Maritime Technical Advisory Committee to the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory in Newport News, Virginia. He is past chairman emeritus of the Advisory Board to the Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington.

Admiral Baciocco was Chairman of the Cold War Submarine Memorial Foundation, the driving force in establishing the memorial by that name at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum. In addition, he was a principal player in the shaping and execution of the Charleston-area and South Carolina strategies for the 2003-2006 DOD BRAC (Base Re-alignment and Closure) enterprise, serving as a member of the Governor's Military Advisory Committee and on the Board of Directors of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce during that period. He is a founding member of the Board of Advisors to the Charleston Maritime Law Institute at the Charleston School of Law.

Admiral Baciocco is Past-President of the Charleston Council and serves on the National Advisory Council of the Navy League of the United States. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi, a national engineering honor society. Admiral Baciocco is the recipient of Honorary Doctorate degrees from Florida Atlantic University and from the Medical University of South Carolina, and has been awarded the Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor awarded by the Governor of South Carolina to recognize lifetime achievement and service.

Admiral Baciocco and his wife, the former Mary Jane Rivera of Coronado, California, reside in the historic Old Village of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. They have four married children and nine grandchildren.