Navy Submarine Program Chief Todd S. Weeks Nominated for Rear Admiral
Weeks, who oversees the Navy's Strategic Submarines program at the Washington Navy Yard, would rise from the lower half to the full rank of rear admiral if confirmed.
The officer running the Navy’s Strategic Submarines program has been nominated to a higher flag rank.
Todd Weeks, a Navy rear admiral (lower half), was nominated for appointment to the grade of rear admiral, the Department of War announced July 16, 2026 at 4:16 PM ET. Weeks currently serves as program executive officer for Strategic Submarines at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., the department said.
The nomination lifts Weeks from a one-star flag rank to a two-star flag rank. In the Navy, rear admiral (lower half) carries a single star and sits below the full rear admiral grade, which carries two stars.
As program executive officer for Strategic Submarines, Weeks directs the acquisition portfolio for the sea-based leg of the nation’s nuclear deterrent. That portfolio includes the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine, the Navy’s top acquisition priority, according to war.gov. The office also sustains the aging Ohio-class boats that currently carry the fleet’s submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
The stakes reach beyond one officer’s career. The program Weeks leads underpins one of the three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad, and the Columbia-class effort ranks among the most expensive shipbuilding programs in the Navy’s history. Continuity in the senior ranks matters when a program of that scale spans decades and dollars measured in the tens of billions.
Flag nominations follow a fixed path. The President forwards each name to the Senate, which refers it to the Armed Services Committee before a confirmation vote by the full chamber. No officer may pin on the higher rank until the Senate acts.
For the average reader, the promotion carries no direct effect on daily life. The nomination signals how the Navy manages the leadership of programs that consume a large share of the defense budget and shape national security for years.
Has this happened before? It has. The Department of War, formerly the Department of Defense, publishes flag and general officer announcements on a routine schedule, and single-star officers advancing to two stars is a regular feature of those lists. The July 16 release named Weeks among a batch of nominations processed through the standard confirmation pipeline.
The next decision rests with the U.S. Senate, which must confirm the appointment before Weeks can assume the higher grade. A date for the confirmation vote has not been announced.
The sea-based deterrent has anchored American strategy for more than half a century. The Navy launched USS George Washington, the first U.S. ballistic missile submarine, in 1959, and the boat conducted the first submerged Polaris missile launch in 1960. Successive classes followed, from the Lafayette boats to the Ohio-class fleet that entered service beginning in 1981. The officers who steered those programs helped build a force that has patrolled the oceans without interruption, and each promotion into the flag ranks extended a chain of stewardship that outlasts any single tenure.
Source: NewsFindr Chart Maker
Note: Chart generated by NewsFindr on July 16, 2026 at 4:35 PM ET