Pacific military command goes to Adm. Fargo

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Thomas B. Fargo has been chosen to take over the job of his boss, Adm. Dennis Blair, as the 20th commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command.

Adm. Thomas Fargo has been nominated to succeed Dennis Blair as the commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command.

A change-of-command ceremony is scheduled for May 2 at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i in Kane'ohe.

"It is an honor to be nominated as the commander in chief, U.S. Pacific Command, by President Bush," Fargo said in a statement. "I consider it a great privilege to be able to continue to serve my country and look forward to the Senate confirmation hearing."

Fargo, a central figure in disciplinary action brought last year against former USS Greeneville captain Cmdr. Scott Waddle, takes leadership of U.S. military interests in a vast Asia-Pacific region at a time of U.S. troop involvement in the Philippines and when some are calling for U.S. troops to be sent to Indonesia.

Sen. Dan Inouye yesterday said he was "very pleased" with the selection of Fargo for the job. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, said he doesn't expect any problems with Senate confirmation of the four-star admiral, and added there should be a smooth transition to the new post because Fargo is "knowledgeable and sensitive" to the issues of the Pacific. The command, which stretches from the U.S. West Coast to Madagascar, is based at Camp Smith.

Fargo, who is married and has two children, 15 and 29, took over as Pacific Fleet commander on

Oct. 8, 1999, and is responsible for the world's largest combined Navy fleet command, encompassing

102 million square miles and more than 190 ships and submarines, 1,400 aircraft, 191,000 sailors and Marines, and 30,000 civilians.

A 1970 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Fargo served on both attack and ballistic missile submarines including the USS Plunger and USS Salt Lake City, and following selection to flag rank in 1993, was director of operations with the U.S. Atlantic Command; director, assessment division, for the chief of naval operations; and deputy chief of naval operations for plans, policy and operations.

Reports out of Washington pegged Fargo and Marine Gen. Carlton W. Fulford Jr., deputy commander of the U.S. European Command, as the two leading candidates for the job of CINCPAC.

With control of vast Navy resources, the position traditionally has gone to an admiral. Eighteen of the past 19 CINCPACs prior to Fargo have worn a Navy uniform.

Some defense experts speculated Fargo's shortage of joint service as a "purple suiter" would be a liability for a CINCPAC who has command of four component commands made up of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines.

"The next challenge for him will be to put on his purple hat and not only fairly represent all the services, but be seen as doing that," said Ralph Cossa, who worked either directly or indirectly for six commanders in chief.

"He's coming in after having been a proponent of Pacific Fleet," said Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies in Honolulu. "I think he has to make the extra effort to demonstrate he's no longer wearing the Pacific Fleet hat. The good news is that he's already familiar with the Pacific Command's mission and is a known factor in the region."

Historically, Pacific Fleet commanders move to a position like chief of naval operations or retire, and transitioning to Pacific Command CINC is unusual, said retired Navy Rear Adm. Eugene Carroll, with the Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C.

But retired Navy submariner Capt. John Peters, who was military assistant to the secretary of defense from 1980 to 1984, says Fargo is a great choice for CINCPAC.

"He's very smart, he's a superb speaker, he's a good leader — he's the right man for the job, as Denny Blair was before him," said Peters, who lives on O'ahu and has known Fargo since his days as a submarine commanding officer.

Jim Tollefson, acting president and chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i, also lauded the selection of Fargo, and said he handled disciplinary action taken in the Greeneville case with professionalism. During a surfacing drill on Feb. 9, 2001, the submarine crashed into a Japanese fishing training vessel, killing nine crewmembers and students on the surface ship. Waddle was found guilty at a disciplinary hearing of dereliction of duty and negligent hazarding of the sub.

Tollefson said Fargo also helped retain jobs at the Pearl Harbor subbase that could have been lost to the Mainland.

The job of CINCPAC is part war fighter, and part diplomat, and Blair has spent up to half his time meeting civilian and military leaders in countries like Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, China and Japan.

Blair, who was named commander in chief of Pacific Command in February of 1999, is in Washington. On Wednesday, he told the House Armed Services Committee that "we do not have adequate forces to carry out our missions for the Pacific if the operations in the Central Command continue at their recent past and current pace."

After retirement, Blair will become senior fellow with the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, Va.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459