ASSOCIATED PRESS The Pentagon plans to switch command of Navy and Marine units in California to Norfolk, Va., from Hawaii, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said yesterday at a hearing with U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska.

Pacific Command
role reduction set

A shift of command over West
Coast units out of the isles
has officials concerned

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By David Briscoe
Associated Press

The Pentagon plans to switch command over U.S. military units on the West Coast from Hawaii to the mainland, possibly cutting direct ties the units have across the Pacific, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said yesterday.

Democrat Inouye, Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska and the outgoing commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command all raised alarms about the Pentagon plans at a special congressional hearing at the federal courthouse in Honolulu.

Inouye said it could leave the impression across Asia that the United States is losing interest in the critical region, where the threat of terrorism is high.

Stevens said it makes no sense to command Pacific naval forces from across the continent.

Adm. Dennis Blair, the Pacific Command chief who is stepping down at the end of the month, said forces in California and Washington state should "lean towards the Pacific" and remain part of the Pacific Command.

Blair said he supports the idea of a new mainland command of all Navy, Air Force, Army and Marine forces under a yet-to-be-named general or admiral.

But the current setup in the Pacific provides for all contingencies and daily cooperation with allies, Blair said, while "alternative arrangements do not provide that same focus on the Pacific."

Inouye, chairman of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee that held the hearing, gave only the bare essentials of the military's plans, which he said would include putting California Navy and Marine forces under the Joint Forces Command, currently based in Norfolk, Va.

"The Third Fleet, which is stationed on the West Coast, and the Marines would no longer be directly assigned to the Pacific Command," Inouye said.

The fleet, based in San Diego, conducts operations and exercises in the eastern Pacific from Alaska to Antarctica, training and preparing for deployment in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean. The Seventh Fleet, based in Hawaii, would remain under the Pacific Command.

The change would also take away Pacific Command authority over the First Marine Expeditionary Force in Southern California and Arizona, according to Inouye. The senator did not mention the Army's First Corps, based at Ft. Lewis, Wash., or Army units in Alaska, which also are now part of the sprawling Pacific Command.

Blair, however, indicated that the Army units, too, could lose their Pacific ties, noting that Washington-based troops now hold annual exercises in Thailand. Inouye asked Blair what impact the change would have on his ability to contain aggression and maintain cooperation with allies.

Blair said his units were set up "in a very efficient and effective way to plan for contingencies that may happen in the region ... and we are able to build linkages on a day-to-day basis between all of our Pacific Command forces and our allies and partners in the region."

All West Coast units "really have their heads in the Pacific game," Blair said.

He said the armed forces can be better organized for homeland defense, "but I believe that the main combat forces on the West Coast should lean towards the Pacific and be part of the Pacific Command."

Pentagon officials have said in recent weeks that changes are planned in the unified commands over U.S. units around the world, including possibly a new command to oversee all units protecting the U.S. mainland. But details have not been disclosed.

In January, Vice President Dick Cheney said that creating a new military command to coordinate the defense of North America would be "a good idea," and the various agencies reportedly have been considering a proposal. The Pentagon currently has regional commanders in chief responsible for the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and South Asia, but there is no unified commander for the United States. Plans also call for putting Russia under the commander for Europe for the first time.

As the largest of the United States' nine unified military operations, the Pacific Command oversees U.S. security interests over half the earth, covering 43 countries, with more than 60 percent of the world's population. Inouye and Stevens just completed a tour of China, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines, where they said support for continued U.S. military involvement in the region is strong.