The Navy’s Money Man: VADM Brad Skillman to Keynote 2026 Navy Summit
Potomac Officers Club, the nation’s preeminent GovCon networking and events company, is pleased to announce that the 2026 Navy Summit will feature Vice Adm. Brad Skillman, deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources, N8, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, as a keynote speaker on Aug. 27 in Falls Church, Virginia.
As N8, Skillman effectively serves as the Navy’s chief financial officer, overseeing the integration, prioritization and resourcing of every capability the service buys, builds and fields. Few positions in the Department of the Navy carry more weight over where the fleet’s money actually goes, giving the GovCon community a rare chance to hear directly from the officer who translates naval strategy into budget reality.
Attendees will also hear from Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao, who headlines the keynote lineup, along with Acting Chief Information Officer Barry Tanner and Vice Adm. Michael Vernazza, commander of Naval Information Forces. This is a must-attend event for all members of the defense industrial base. Register now!
Who Is Brad Skillman?
Skillman currently serves as deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources, N8, a post he has held since January 2024. In that role, he sits at the center of the Navy’s budget process, weighing competing capability requirements against available resources and shaping where the service’s money ultimately flows — decisions that ripple directly into industry’s contracting pipeline.
He most recently led the Programming Division, N80, within OPNAV from 2020 to 2024, giving him direct oversight of Navy program budgeting before stepping into the N8 role. Earlier in his career, he served as executive assistant and naval aide to the assistant secretary of the Navy for financial management and comptroller, an early foothold in the budget world he now oversees at the service level.
Skillman’s broader career spans:
- Flag officer tours as deputy commander and chief of staff of the NATO Joint Warfare Centre in Stavanger, Norway; commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 2; and director establishing the Enterprise Support pillar within MyNavyHR
- Command at sea, including as the commissioning commanding officer of the USS New Orleans and later commanding officer of the USS Ponce and the USS San Antonio, with his major command as commander of Amphibious Squadron 4
- Sea duty assignments aboard the USS Josephus Daniels, USS Belleau Wood, USS Nashville and USS Gunston Hall, along with tours with Amphibious Squadron 8 and Amphibious Squadron 4
- Pentagon staff roles, including lead ship maintenance action officer for the Maintenance and Modernization Division, N43, and Sea Shield and surface warfare program analyst for the Director of Integration and Warfare Assessment, N70, on the CNO staff
- Acquisition experience as military assistant and director of operations for the deputy director of Naval Warfare in the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics
A surface warfare officer, Skillman is a native of Muncie, Indiana, and St. Paris, Ohio. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in oceanography and later earned a Master of Science in operational oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School. His decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, along with various campaign, unit and service awards.
What Will Skillman Discuss at the 2026 Navy Summit?
As the officer responsible for integrating the Navy’s capability requirements with the resources available to fund them, Skillman is positioned to speak candidly on the budget tradeoffs shaping the fleet’s modernization path. Expect his 2026 Navy Summit keynote to touch on:
- How the Navy is prioritizing investment across competing modernization demands, from shipbuilding to networked warfare
- Where industry can find the clearest paths to funding as the service balances readiness against new capability buys
- How resourcing decisions at the N8 level translate into downstream acquisition opportunity for contractors
- The Navy’s approach to funding autonomy and hybrid fleet initiatives at scale
- Budget priorities tied to enterprise network modernization and information warfare readiness
- How programs like Project Overmatch and CJADC2 are competing for and securing funding within the broader portfolio
His keynote lands amid a full day of programming built around these same tradeoffs, including morning panels on scaling autonomous and hybrid fleet capabilities and integrating commercial technology into maritime operations centers, plus afternoon sessions on software-defined shipbuilding, enterprise network modernization and the connective tissue linking Project Overmatch and CJADC2 across the joint force. A dedicated “Go Live Faster” panel will tackle how the Navy can accelerate acquisition and fielding timelines.
Why Should GovCons Attend the 2026 Navy Summit?
For government contractors pursuing Navy business, the chance to hear directly from the executive who shapes the service’s budget priorities is not something that comes around often. The 2026 Navy Summit puts Skillman on stage alongside Acting Secretary Hung Cao, Acting CIO Barry Tanner and Vice Adm. Michael Vernazza, giving attendees a single-day opportunity to engage with the Navy’s civilian and uniformed leadership on where the service is headed and how it plans to pay for getting there.
Beyond the keynotes, the day’s agenda features senior leaders and industry executives from organizations including Google Public Sector, Palantir Technologies, SAIC, Carahsoft, AT&T, Noblis and Kpler, alongside flag and general officers spanning the Navy, Marine Corps and NATO community. Panel topics — autonomy at scale, commercial integration into maritime operations centers, digital shipbuilding, enterprise network modernization and Joint All-Domain Command and Control — map directly onto the Navy’s highest-dollar modernization priorities, giving attendees a clear read on where budget authority and acquisition opportunity are converging.
For GovCons looking to align their pipeline with the Navy’s actual spending priorities rather than guesswork, this is a day built to deliver that clarity. Save your spot before they sell out.
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