Posted at 4:01 a.m., Sunday, May 6, 2007
U.S. Pacific Fleet change of command set for Tuesday
Advertiser Staff
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii -- Adm. Gary Roughead will relinquish command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 8, in a change-of-command ceremony at Naval Station Pearl Harbor's Kilo Pier.Roughead is slated to become commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command in Norfolk, Va.
Adm. Robert F. Willard, the former vice chief of naval operations, will assume the role of Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
The mission of the U.S. Pacific Fleet is to support the U.S. Pacific Command's theater strategy and to provide inter-operable, trained and combat-ready naval forces to the Pacific Command and other U.S. unified commanders. The Pacific Fleet is the naval component that keeps sea lanes open, deters aggression, provides regional stability, and supports humanitarian relief activities.
The Pacific Fleet area of responsibility extends over half the Earth's surface, covering more than 100 million square miles. Each day, Pacific Fleet ships are at sea in the Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans, from the U.S. West Coast to the Persian Gulf. The Pacific Fleet comprises 172 ships and submarines, 1,296 aircraft, and 122,000 Sailors, Reservists and civilians.
