Zazi Forum

Vice Admiral Peter M. Hekman, U. S. Navy (Retired), presently of San Diego, CA, is an independent Consultant, providing both technical and managerial services to various corporations. After retiring from the
U. S. Navy in 1991 with the permanent rank of Vice Admiral, Admiral Hekman served as a Senior Executive in the U.S. Department of Energy, as DOE Manager of the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. He then served as Vice President of Syntek Engineering and Technologies in Arlington, VA, providing technical consulting services to both the Defense Department and to foreign and domestic industrial firms. He most recently served as President of Babcock & Wilcox of Ohio, the managing contractor for the radiological remediation of the DOE Mound Site located in Miamisburg, Ohio, and that site’s conversion to an industrial park. He served for several years as a retained consultant to the Board of Commonwealth Edison of Illinois, and as a member of its Nuclear Operations Oversight Committee.

Admiral Hekman commanded the Naval Sea Systems Command from 1988 until his retirement, a command containing at the time over 110,000 personnel and an annual budget of $25 Billion, encompassing all naval shipyards, weapons, ordnance and engineering stations, and overseeing all ship design, construction and repair, weapons and combat systems design and procurement. He personally acted as the Navy’s senior engineer and ship systems technical authority. Prior to this assignment, he served as Deputy Director, Navy Research and Development, Test and Evaluation in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, coordinating all Navy R&D programs.

Admiral Hekman served on the Operations Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, commanded a Cruiser-Destroyer Group, and commanded Task Forces in both the Western and Eastern Pacific ocean areas. Qualified for the supervision of operations and maintenance of Naval nuclear reactor plants, he served as Engineer Officer of the nuclear-powered Carrier USS ENTERPRISE and commanded a nuclear-powered Cruiser as well as two conventionally powered warships. He served for many years in the Navy’s industrial, engineering, and acquisition environment and upon retirement was the Navy’s most senior officer designated as an Acquisition Professional.

Admiral Hekman remains active in San Diego’s civic affairs as a member and former Chairman of the San Diego Military Affairs Advisory Committee and as a member of the Committee for Homeland Security. He is a Board member of the San Diego Fleet Week Foundation. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy, and a Master of Science degree in Management from the Naval Post-Graduate School.