Adm. Robert F. Willard comes to the job from the Pentagon, where he served as the vice chief of naval operations.

"For me the prospect of this command is thrilling, humbling and inspiring for the legacy that it represents," Willard said at a change of command ceremony on a pier overlooking the USS Arizona Memorial and the battleship Missouri.

During the 1980s, the F-14 fighter jet aviator was the operations and executive officer of the Navy Fighter Weapons School featured in the Hollywood movie "Top Gun."

More recently, the Los Angeles native has commanded the U.S. Seventh Fleet from Japan and directed an aircraft carrier battle group from the USS Kitty Hawk.

Willard succeeds Adm. Gary Roughead, who is leaving Hawai'i to become the next commander of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command.

Based in Norfolk, Va., Roughead will be responsible for planning how the Navy trains and equips its sailors.

Adm. Michael Mullen, the chief of naval operations, praised Roughead for boosting anti-submarine warfare training to prepare sailors to face the increasing number of quieter and more threatening diesel submarines owned by countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Navy's top uniformed officer also commended Roughead for improving ballistic missile defense operations on the Pacific Fleet's ships.

"Adm. Roughead has proved very good at laying the path to the future," Mullen said.

"With an almost clairvoyant flair, he made critical decisions that both enhanced our capabilities and sent the right messages to our neighbors."