Doran to take command
of Pacific Fleet Saturday

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

Adm. Walter Doran will become the 29th U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Saturday during brief ceremonies on the deck of the World War II battleship USS Missouri, berthed at Ford Island.

Doran, who commanded the Pacific Fleet's 7th Fleet in 1998, will replace Adm. Thomas Fargo, who will be elevated this afternoon to head of all Pacific military forces.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to attend Fargo's change of command at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay.

Fargo assumed command of the Pacific Fleet on Oct. 8, 1999.

Doran will be responsible for the world's largest combined 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.

He has commanded Amphibious Group One and Amphibious Force U.S. Seventh Fleet in Okinawa, Japan; USS Dewert (FFG-45); and USS Belknap (CG-26), the flagship for the U.S. Sixth Fleet, home-ported in Gaeta, Italy.