WASHINGTON — Retired Adm. Dennis C. Blair, a former head of U.S. Pacific Command, will be nominated by President-elect Barack Obama as the nation's top intelligence official, according to news reports yesterday citing unnamed sources.

Early reports from Reuters and MSNBC said Obama could make an announcement as early as today.

Blair, 61, was at the helm of U.S. Pacific Command headquartered at Camp Smith on O'ahu from February 1999 to May 2002. Blair, who retired after 34 years in the Navy, has a reputation of supporting diplomatic and political efforts instead of military confrontation.

He was credited with leading Pacific Command away from the old paradigm of bilateral relationships and developing a new model of multilateral security encouraging countries in the region to talk and train together.

Hawai'i's Democratic congressional delegation reacted positively to Obama's apparent selection.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye said he has worked with Blair as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee and as someone involved in Asian-Pacific security issues.

"As a result of that experience, I believe he has the ability and background to serve our nation very well as its next intelligence chief," Inouye said.

"In his 34-year distinguished Navy career, Adm. Blair was known as an experienced military leader," said U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono. "His distinctive perspective will add to the strength of the new administration."

She added, "His years traveling the Pacific and living in Hawai'i, experiencing our cultural diversity and uniqueness will serve him well in his new position."

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka said he was pleased Obama "selected someone with such extensive hands-on knowledge of national security issues in the Asia-Pacific region."

"I worked with Adm. Blair on the Armed Services Committee and I congratulate him and his wife Diane on the nomination," Akaka said. "He served our country well as commander in chief of the Pacific and I trust he will serve with the same level of duty and honor if confirmed as director of national intelligence."

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said Blair "made a special effort to familiarize himself with China, and not strictly from the point of view of military confrontation, or that angle alone, but rather, to see what the military could do in terms of being supportive of overall Asia policy."

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a Rhodes Scholar who speaks Russian, Blair has been director of the joint staff in the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.