Vice Admiral William Merz, USN (Ret.)

Vice Admiral Bill Merz is senior vice president of Aerospace and Defense Technologies for Oceaneering International. He was previously the vice president of operations for Entergy. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, serves in several defense industry advisory positions, and is a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the Australia–United Kingdom–United States (AUKUS) defense initiative.

Adm. Merz retired from the US Navy in December 2022, having commanded the US Seventh Fleet, three overseas task forces, and United Nations security operations in the East China Sea. He served as the Navy’s Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare commander, director of Undersea Warfare, deputy Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) for Warfighting Requirements, and deputy CNO for Operations, Plans, and Strategy. Adm. Merz has served as US Navy staff lead, and he has authored Navy and Marine Corps warfighting concepts, the Navy’s COVID-19 policy, and maritime elements of the National Defense Strategy, the Nuclear Posture Review, and the Navy’s “Blue Arctic.”

A career US Navy submariner and Honorary Chief Petty Officer, Adm. Merz commanded the nuclear deep submergence vehicle NR-1, the attack submarine USS Memphis, and Submarine Development Squadron 12. He served as chief engineer aboard USS Boise (SSN 764) and for three years headed the Naval Reactors Line Locker. Over the course of 12 global deployments, his crews earned eight unit awards and five Battle Effectiveness awards. His ship was recognized as the top ship in the fleet and completed the fastest ever under-ice polar transit.

Adm. Merz earned a bachelor of science in ocean engineering from the US Naval Academy. He also earned master’s degrees from the Catholic University of America and the US Naval War College. He completed Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Seminar XXI and the Strategic Thinking program at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.