Thomas Harker, acting secretary of the U.S. Navy, told Government Matters in an interview aired Sunday that the service branch's new budget request reflects its goals to balance multidomain investments and modernize naval forces.
He said the Navy also moved to update its information technology network and key computer applications when personnel shifted to a remote work environment due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The former Navy comptroller also mentioned the ongoing project to move legacy software platforms across the service to the Microsoft Office 365 suite of collaboration and communication apps.
As the service branch awaits confirmation of its next full-time secretary, Harker said he hopes to turn over the current initiative to ensure mental health care for sailors and address sexual assault in the force.
“We tried to destigmatize people seeking mental health treatment and get people to go and request help for mental health issues like they would for their physical health,” he said.
“We can start the dialog and they can get additional treatment where needed,” Harker said.
