Trump nominates Anduril executive, former special operations officer to be Army undersecretary

President Donald Trump submitted a nomination to the Senate for Michael Obadal to serve as the Army’s No. 2 official, the White House announced on Tuesday.

In that role, Obadal would be the Army’s chief management officer, helping oversee a budget of more than $185 billion and the manning, training and equipping of the force.

Obadal, a retired Army colonel, is currently a senior director at defense technology company Anduril, according to his LinkedIn profile. The firm has been racking up major contract awards from the Defense Department and working on key Army modernization initiatives, such as drones, IVAS and more.

Before joining Anduril, Obadal — a Virginia Military Institute graduate — served for more than 27 years in the Army, including as an attack helicopter officer and a unit and task force leader for Army Special Operations Command and Joint Special Operations Command, according to his bio on the Special Operations Warrior Foundation website.

If confirmed, Obadal would work under Daniel Driscoll, the new secretary of the Army, who’s looking to shake up the service’s acquisition enterprise.

“[W]e must reinvigorate our industrial base and revolutionize our procurement processes. We are not ready for large-scale conflict with a peer adversary. But we must be. Together, we will forge stronger partnerships with the defense industry to ensure you have the firepower to dominate our enemies. No contract, company, or bureaucratic obstacle will stand in the way of this goal. The status quo is unacceptable. When our nation calls, we will not send you into a fair fight — we will ensure you have overwhelming superiority,” Driscoll wrote in a message to the force after being sworn in last month.

Modernization initiatives currently in the works for the Army include artificial intelligence tools, next-generation network capabilities, robotic combat vehicles and optionally manned fighting vehicles, air defense systems, directed energy weapons, new aircraft and drones, information technology, hypersonic missiles and hypervelocity projectiles, and augmented reality goggles, among others.

DefenseScoop reached out to Anduril spokespeople seeking comment from Obadal and more information about his role at the company.

Obadal’s nomination was submitted to the Senate along with a slew of other nominations for senior positions in the Trump administration and at the Pentagon, including Hung Cao to be undersecretary of the Navy; Daniel Zimmerman to be assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs; Sean O’Keefe to be deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness; Michael Cadenazzi to be assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy; and Richard Anderson to be assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs.