England was a controversial choice for Secretary of the Navy due to his lack of any military service experience and his long career in the defense industry including his most recent appointment as Executive Vice President of General Dynamics Corporation.
 Critics such as William D. Hartung, Head of the Arms Trade Resource Center, felt that it was inappropriate to appoint businessmen whose companies would be the prime benefactor of any increase in defense spending.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld however had decided to make corporate experience one of the key requirements in his appointees as was reported in the Washington Times.
This policy led to England's appointment alongside other leading industrialists including James Roche and Thomas E. White.
England was sworn in on May 24, 2001.
He is reported in the Washington Post as having announced that one of his key aims in the role was the development of "futuristic weapons to counter new types of threats emerging in the post-Soviet world."

The Washington Post reports that during his time in this role "England has joined with Adm. Vernon Clark, chief of naval operations, in directing some of the most sweeping change the service has seen in decades."
The report goes on to list the following;
Retiring dozens of ships
Shedding thousands of jobs,
Consolidating Navy and Marine Corps tactical aviation forces
Juggling crew deployments to keep some ships at sea longer
Devising plans to surge more warships into action faster during a crisis.

By an instruction dated May 31, 2002, England directed all United States Navy ships to fly the first navy jack in honor of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
The jack is to be flown for the duration of the War on Terrorism.

England left the post in January 2003 for a new position within the administration.
England was a controversial choice for Secretary of the Navy due to his lack of any military service experience and his long career in the defense industry including his most recent appointment as Executive Vice President of General Dynamics Corporation.  Critics such as William D. Hartung, Head of the Arms Trade Resource Center, felt that it was inappropriate to appoint businessmen whose companies would be the prime benefactor of any increase in defense spending. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld however had decided to make corporate experience one of the key requirements in his appointees as was reported in the Washington Times. This policy led to England's appointment alongside other leading industrialists including James Roche and Thomas E. White. England was sworn in on May 24, 2001. He is reported in the Washington Post as having announced that one of his key aims in the role was the development of "futuristic weapons to counter new types of threats emerging in the post-Soviet world."
The Washington Post reports that during his time in this role "England has joined with Adm. Vernon Clark, chief of naval operations, in directing some of the most sweeping change the service has seen in decades." The report goes on to list the following;
Retiring dozens of ships
Shedding thousands of jobs,
Consolidating Navy and Marine Corps tactical aviation forces
Juggling crew deployments to keep some ships at sea longer
Devising plans to surge more warships into action faster during a crisis.
By an instruction dated May 31, 2002, England directed all United States Navy ships to fly the first navy jack in honor of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The jack is to be flown for the duration of the War on Terrorism.
England left the post in January 2003 for a new position within the administration.
Gordon R. England