Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, left, and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman answer questions from sailors during a visit to Naval Station Rota in Spain on Feb. 6, 2026. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — The show of hands by sailors in answer to a question about their well-being was not what the Navy’s highest-ranking active-duty officer was hoping to see during a recent visit to this Atlantic Ocean base.
Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, wanted to find out whether the more than 200 sailors in attendance at a meeting Friday know that he considers them his top priority.
Only about 10% raised their hand in affirmation, a response he called disappointing.
But the sailors’ candor revealed important lessons, among them that better communication is needed regarding his efforts to improve their quality of life, Caudle said during the meeting.
Caudle told the sailors at Rota that he is their “strongest advocate” for what they need to be successful, and he wants to know if their expectations are not being met.
Skepticism may also have been behind the lack of affirmative response from service members, who have heard those promises before, Caudle later told Stars and Stripes. Allaying doubts will require visible investment and results, he added.
“It’s OK that they challenge me on that,” Caudle said. “I want to rally behind what we’re talking about here so that (our efforts are) palpable and measurable.”
The Rota stopover by Caudle and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman followed a similar two-day visit at U.S. Naval Support Activity Naples in Italy.
Those personal check-ins dovetailed with separate appearances at both bases by Secretary of the Navy John Phelan.
In the visits to Rota and Naples, sailors were more interested in learning Caudle’s thoughts on the threats in Europe, the Indo-Pacific and Middle East than answers to the more granular work-related issues he usually addresses, he said.
A sailor asks Adm. Daryl Caudle, in the background at left, and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman a question during a meeting at U.S. Naval Station Rota in Spain on Feb. 6, 2026. The chief of naval operations, Caudle visited Rota after a previous stop at Naval Support Activity Naples in Italy. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
For example, he fielded questions about the safety of sailors and their families in the Middle East, what carrier would deploy next and where (spoiler: Caudle doesn’t know where the George H.W. Bush Carrier Strike Group will go) and the Navy’s operations in the Caribbean Sea.
Those queries and others reveal that sailors there are motivated, focused, ready to do their jobs and proud to be serving, Caudle said.
“They’ve got their mind in the game,” he said.
The visits to both bases in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet command by the Navy’s highest officials demonstrate their significance to U.S. defense, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, which Caudle characterized as the “center of gravity” in the region.
The Navy’s capabilities and reach there allow incomparable synergy among U.S. European Command, U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Central Command theaters, an area stretching from NATO’s southern flank into Africa and the Middle East, Caudle said.
“It all comes to a nexus there in the eastern Mediterranean,” Caudle said.
In addition to his experiences with sailors in Naples and Rota, Caudle discussed his Sailors First initiative and efforts to modernize and grow the fleet, among other topics.
Sailors First is a key initiative for Caudle in revamping the Navy’s efforts to foster sailors’ well-being through top-notch combat platforms, training, education and support.
The effort includes ensuring that the service meets or exceeds expectations in such areas as housing, recreation, day care, grocery shopping, food service and schools.
Soon after officially taking up the chief of naval operations post in August, Caudle ordered an end to the practice of having sailors live on ships when they aren’t underway, an effort he characterized as a no-brainer in improving quality of life.
To do that, the service would invest in unaccompanied and family housing and help sailors make good use of a recent increase in their basic allowance for housing.
The move sought to “ensure that every sailor resides in housing that is clean, comfortable and safe,” Caudle wrote in a September memo introducing his Sailors First initiative.
The directive is in line with recommendations in a 2023 Navy investigation into the suicides of several sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS George Washington.
Junior sailors were living in poor conditions on and off the ship while the carrier was undergoing a grueling yearslong overhaul, investigators found.
The investigation included 48 recommendations to better the quality of life for sailors, including improving off-ship housing and no longer having sailors stay on ships when not underway, Task and Purpose reported at the time.
Sailors and Marines at Naval Station Rota in Spain fill their plates during lunch at the galley Feb. 6, 2026. Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, has promised to modernize Navy galleys to better meet sailors’ nutritional and dietary needs. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
In tackling the issue, Caudle learned that an estimated 7,500 to 10,000 sailors were assigned to live on ships. Today, that number has been reduced by more than half, to between 2,500 and 3,000, Caudle said at NSA Naples last week.
“No sailor’s mailing address should be a ship,” he said.
Caudle hopes to see the number reduced to zero as soon as next year. Commands will need to be creative in using barracks and off-base housing to achieve that goal, he said.
A small number of sailors may want to continue living on their ships, he added.
Caudle also intends to modernize galleys so they meet the nutritional and dietary needs of sailors. Ensuring affordable, available and durable uniforms and free Wi-Fi in barracks also are on the list, according to the memo.
Caudle acknowledges that the demand for Navy forces is growing across theaters, including a carrier presence in waters off the coast of Venezuela.
But the need demonstrates the unique benefits and advantages the service offers to the Joint Command, he said in his talks with sailors.
For example, the Navy recently postured forces including the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea to address growing tensions with Iran while it maintains a similarly sized force in the Caribbean, he told sailors at both Naples and Rota.
Meanwhile, five destroyers maintain Navy presence in Europe, and a carrier strike group and other forces are on patrol in the Indo-Pacific to address concerns about China.
The Navy’s force structure lets the service easily mobilize its forces across the world, he said, adding that “the fact that it just doesn’t matter” where Bush is deployed is “the greatest complement“ a person in his position could have.
And that degree of capability will only improve with the growth initiative known as the Golden Fleet, Caudle said.
It proposes to preserve existing Navy platforms such as aircraft carriers, destroyers, submarines and amphibious assault ships while adding new vessels, such as a battleship designed to deliver superior firepower.
The plan also prioritizes drones, robots and autonomous systems as central in reshaping and strengthening the Navy for future conflicts, Defense News reported in December.
“We’re going to build and design a Navy that is going to endure for a long, long time,” Caudle said. “I’m very fortunate to be part of that initiative and that movement.”
