A
P-3 Orion pilot with operational tours spanning both coasts, Moran commanded
Patrol Squadron 46 and
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 2, and served extensively as an instructor pilot in multiple operational tours and in two tours with Patrol Squadron 30. The additional operational tour included staff members for the commander of
Carrier Group 6 aboard . Moran was the 39th
Vice Chief of Naval Operations from May 31, 2016, to June 10, 2019.
Appointment as Chief of Naval Operations and retirement On April 11, 2019, Moran was nominated for appointment as
Chief of Naval Operations. He was confirmed for the position by the U.S. Senate on May 23, 2019. He was due to assume the position on August 1, 2019. However, on July 8, 2019, he announced that he would instead decline the post and retire based on "an open investigation into the nature of some of my personal email correspondence over the past couple of years and for continuing to maintain a professional relationship with a former staff officer, now retired, who had while in uniform been investigated and held accountable over allegations of inappropriate behavior." The Outgoing Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral
John Richardson, praised Moran's 38 years of Navy service, calling him "a close friend and colleague" and "superb Naval Officer and leader." The
Department of Defense Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report on the outcome of its investigation in August 2019. The OIG determined that Moran's use of a personal email account to send official military communications violated Department of Defense policies. OIG also found that Moran frequently communicated using the personal email account with a Navy commander who had been removed from the CNO's staff in 2017 for "inappropriate behavior towards junior female officers and a female civilian employee." OIG found that this Moran's continued relationship with the Navy commander did not violate any Navy policy and was a "performance issue" rather than misconduct. In his response to the OIG's conclusions, Moran acknowledged using his personal email account for military business, but stressed that he had never used the account to exchange
classified information. With respect to his communications with the former Navy commander, Moran said that he regretted that some viewed "my continuing professional relationship with this Navy commander as insensitive, inappropriate, or wrong" and said that he believed in "a balance between accountability and redemption." ==Awards and decorations==