Albert J. Baciocco, Jr.

Vice Admiral, U. S. Navy (Retired)

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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 is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from Florida Atlantic University.

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 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 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 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. Among his accomplishments during this three year period, he was a founding co-sponsor of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University, and was the principal driving force behind the establishment of the Center for Applied Research in Artificial Intelligence located at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

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 which 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 been engaged in a variety of business and pro bono activities with industry, government and academe, principally related to technology planning, investment, management, and implementation. Admiral Baciocco also has participated frequently in merger and acquisition activity on various investment banking teams.

Admiral Baciocco is a Director of Honeywell, Inc., and American Superconductor Corporation. During 1996, he retired from additional directorships of the following public corporations: Giddings & Lewis, Inc., where he served for four years; and Vectra Technologies, Inc. (formerly Pacific Nuclear Systems, Inc.), where he served for eight years. He also rendered service as a director of Alliant Techsystems, Inc., and Shell Exploration and Production Company. In addition, during 1990-91, he served as President and chief executive of Pacific Nuclear Systems, Inc.

Admiral Baciocco serves on several government and industry advisory boards and committees, and on committees of the National Research Council. He is a member of the Naval Studies Board of the National Research Council. In addition, he served for four years as a member of the Army Science Board, and has served on task forces of the Defense Science Board and on 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. In early 1996, in response to Congressional tasking, he was selected to chair the Independent Submarine Technology Assessment Panel for the Department of the Navy.

Admiral Baciocco is a Trustee of the South Carolina Research Authority, a state-chartered not-for-profit advanced technology development and management enterprise, and a Director of its affiliated Advanced Technology Institute. In addition, he has remained active and involved with academe, serving on the Boards of Directors of the University of South Carolina Research Institute; the Foundation for Research Development at the Medical University of South Carolina; and the Waste Policy Institute, an affiliate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Ocean and Systems Engineering at Florida Atlantic University; a member of the Council at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia; and currently chairs the Southeastern Universities Research Association’s Maritime Technical Advisory Committee to the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Laboratory in Newport News, Virginia. He recently retired from the Board of Directors of Oak Ridge Associated Universities, having completed six years as a Director of this not-for-profit consortium of over eighty-five universities. In addition, he is a member emeritus and past chairman of the Advisory Board to the Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington.

Admiral Baciocco is a member of the National Advisory Council of the Navy League of the United States and a Director of the Charleston Council of that organization, a National Director of the Naval Submarine League, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Cold War Submarine Memorial Foundation.

Admiral Baciocco and his wife, the former Mary Jane Rivera of Coronado, California, reside in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. They have four married children and eight grandchildren residing in Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.