The U.S. ambassador to Norway, retired Navy Adm. Kenneth J. Braithwaite, drew bipartisan praise in his Armed Services Committee nomination hearing for secretary of the Navy, promising to stay out of personnel issues that have caused the demise of the previous two Navy secretaries.

“It saddens me to say that the Department of the Navy is in rough waters,” Braithwaite said Thursday in his opening statement, spelling out his credentials while wearing a dark pinstripe suit, purple tie, and four-point pocket square. “Due to many factors, primarily the failure of leadership.”