Randy B. Crites (born 1962) is a vice admiral in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, serving as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Integration of Capabilities and Resources (OPNAV N8) since May 15, 2020. He previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Budget, and as director of the Fiscal Management Division (OPNAV N82) in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, until he was promoted to the rank of vice admiral in 2020.

Early life and education

Crites was born and raised in

Lima, Ohio Lima ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northwest Ohio along Interstate 75 in Ohio, Interstate 75 approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton, southwest of Toledo, Ohio, T ...

. He attended Shawnee High School, graduating in 1980. Crites studied mining engineering at the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, where he obtained his

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

degree in 1984. Crites was commissioned as an Ensign in the

in 1985 through the Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate (NUPOC) program. In 1996, he moved to

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...

, where he attended the

Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associat ...

and studied

security studies __NOTOC__ Security studies, also known as international security studies, is an academic sub-field within the wider discipline of international relations that studies organized violence, military conflict, national security, and international s ...

and did master's degree in National Security Affairs. Crites is also a graduate of the MIT Seminar XXI National Securities study program.

Naval career

After commissioning through

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and Enlisted rank, enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a Commission (document), commission as Commissioned officer, officers in the armed forces of a country. ...

, Crites completed training at

Nuclear Power School Nuclear Power School (NPS) is a technical school operated by the U.S. Navy in Goose Creek, South Carolina as a central part of a program that trains enlisted sailors, officers, KAPL civilians and Bettis civilians for shipboard nuclear power pl ...

and the Nuclear Power Training Unit before serving as a division officer aboard the ''Sturgeon''-class nuclear

attack submarine An attack submarine or hunter-killer submarine is a submarine specifically designed for the purpose of attacking and sinking other submarines, surface combatants and merchant vessels. In the Soviet and Russian navies they were and are called "mul ...

. He later served aboard the ''Sturgeon''-class as the Navigator and Operations Officer before his third sea-tour where he served as the Executive Officer aboard the ''Ohio''-class

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

submarine . Afterwards, he assumed command of the ''Ohio''-class

submarine , completing four strategic patrols, and later assumed command of the ''Ohio''-class

guided missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket ...

submarine . Crites headed navy's branches stationed at various places. He was appointed as the branch head for Program Planning and Development. His other tours ashore include instructor at the

United States Fleet Forces Command The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Stat ...

(formerly U.S. Atlantic Fleet), and a naval member of the Tactical Readiness Evaluation Team. He retained prominent positions in the US Navy such as commander of a

nuclear-powered Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

submarine project the Submarine Program Section (SPS) and Shipbuilding Account Manager (SAM). As on active commissioned duty, he headed the

United States Strategic Command United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear deterr ...

as weapons system programmer. He remained

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

of the Performance Monitoring Team (PMT) at Submarine Squadron 4, raised by the US Navy in 1930. Before being appointed as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (DCNO) for Integration of Capabilities and Resources (OPNAV N8), Crites served as commander of Submarine Group 10,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

of Maritime Headquarters in the Pacific Fleet, the Director of the OPNAV Assessments Division (OPNAV N81), and most recently served simultaneously as deputy assistant Secretary of the Navy for Budget (FMB) and as the Director of OPNAV's Fiscal Management Division (OPNAV N82).

Awards and decorations

References

External links

Randy B. Crites
at

U.S. Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crites, Randy B. Date of birth missing (living people) 1962 births Living people Missing middle or first names People from Lima, Ohio Ohio State University College of Engineering alumni Naval War College alumni 20th-century American naval officers United States submarine commanders Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Navy vice admirals