Doran to head Pacific Fleet
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
A former Navy 7th Fleet commander has been picked to replace Adm. Thomas B. Fargo as Pacific Fleet commander in chief.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld yesterday announced that the president has nominated Vice Adm. Walter F. Doran, 56, for appointment to the rank of admiral and assignment as head of Pacific Fleet, which oversees about 200 ships, 2,000 aircraft and 250,000 sailors and marines.
Vice Adm. Walter F. Doran has been nominated to replace Adm. Thomas Fargo as Pacific Fleet commander in chief.
A Pacific Fleet spokesman said it was premature to discuss the nomination pending Senate confirmation.
No date has been set for a hearing for Doran or Fargo, who was selected to take over the job of his boss, Adm. Dennis Blair, as commander in chief of Pacific Command.
A change-of-command ceremony is scheduled for May 2 at the Marine Corps base at Kane'ohe.
Doran has held the position of assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon since September 2000.
Prior to that he commanded the 7th Fleet, which operates out of Yokosuka, Japan, and has an area of responsibility covering the western Pacific and Indian oceans.
The 7th Fleet reports to Pacific Fleet, which is headquartered at Pearl Harbor.
At a change-of-command ceremony at Yokosuka Naval Base in July 2000, Fargo credited Doran with improving contact with foreign military officers and navies and increasing 7th Fleet port visits to new locations.
Doran's nomination comes at a time when elements of Pacific Command like the 3rd Fleet are being eyed for possible administrative reassignment with the creation of the new Northern Command and its mission of defending the United States.
A separate military reorganization plan put forth by the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness calls for the inactivation of Pacific Fleet to cut back on headquarters staffing.
Reports out of Washington, D.C., had Doran and Vice Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani, senior military assistant to Rumsfeld, as the front-runners for the job. From June 1983 to July 1985, Doran was military assistant to the vice president responsible for Pacific area developments and arms-control negotiations.
