Carter Appoints Richardson As CNO

In an unprecedented move, Defense Secretary Ash Carter has nominated a submariner, Adm. John Richardson, to succeed another member of the "silent service" as the 31st chief of naval operations.

Richardson currently serves as the naval nuclear propulsion program director. He also led the 2014 investigation of the service's Naval Nuclear Power School cheating scandal when 34 sailors were expelled.

If approved by Congress, Richardson would succeed another fellow submariner, Adm. Jonathan Greenert, and take the helm at the time the service wants to fund the multibillion-dollar Ohio-class replacement ballistic missile submarine program.