Robert Burns Pirie Jr. (born September 10, 1933) is a retired
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 ...
officer and politician. Early in 2001, Pirie served as Acting
Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense.
By law, the se ...
until the nomination and confirmation of an appointee by President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
.
Biography
Born in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, Pirie is the son of naval aviator
Robert B. Pirie
Robert Burns Pirie (18 April 1905 – 9 January 1990) was a vice admiral in the United States Navy. He was Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for air when he retired in 1962.
Biography
A native of Wymore, Nebraska, he was a 1926 graduate of t ...
, who retired from the Navy as a vice admiral. Raised in
Wymore, Nebraska
Wymore is a city in Gage County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,377 at the 2020 census.
History
Wymore was platted in 1881 as a railroad town, on land donated by Sam Wymore. The "Welsh Capitol of the Great Plains," Wymore became ...
, the younger Pirie received his high school education at Severn School in Maryland, graduating in 1950. He then attended
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
for one year before being appointed to the
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...
. Pirie graduated from the Naval Academy with a B.S. degree in the class of 1955. While there, he played on the
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
team. Pirie was also a
Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
, and attended
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
from 1956 to 1959, earning a B.A. degree and later completing an M.A. degree in 1979. He served 20 years as a naval officer, culminating his service with three years in command of the nuclear attack submarine from 25 October 1969 to 8 July 1972. He then served on the staff of the
National Security Council
A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...
and the Secretary of Defense.
Upon retirement from military duty in the Navy as a
commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
in July 1975, Pirie Jr. joined the newly formed Congressional Budget Office as Deputy Assistant Director in charge of National Security. In 1977, Pirie became Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs and Logistics. He was nominated to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs and Logistics by President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
in December 1978, and served in that position until January 1981.
After leaving government service, Pirie held a variety of positions in the private sector, including that of president of Essex Corporation and vice president of the Center for Naval Analyses and vice president of the
Institute for Defense Analyses
The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is an American non-profit corporation that administers three federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) – the Systems and Analyses Center (SAC), the Science and Technology Policy Institute ...