DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM Departing Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Thomas Fargo, left, saluted incoming commander Adm. Walter Doran yesterday in ceremonies on board the USS Missouri.

Doran takes
command of the
U.S. Pacific Fleet

He officially becomes the fleet's
29th leader in a brief ceremony

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By Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com

Standing under six of the nine massive 16-inch guns of the World War II battleship USS Missouri, Adm. Walter Doran yesterday became the 29th person to head the world's largest naval command -- the Pacific Fleet.

Former Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Thomas Fargo on Thursday relieved Adm. Dennis Blair as head of the U.S. Pacific Command, headquartered at Camp Smith. Fargo will direct Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force operations across more than 100 million square miles and became the senior commander of U.S. military forces in the Pacific and Indian Ocean areas.

Due to the limited time available to plan a traditional change-of-command ceremony only a small crowd of about 200, mainly members of Fargo's Pacific Fleet staff and family members, attended the hour-long ceremony on the teak decks of the Missouri.

DEAN SENSUI / DSENSUI@STARBULLETIN.COM The USS Missouri's 16-inch guns dwarfed Marine and Navy troops who stood atop its forward turret yesterday during the change-of-command ceremony.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark told the gathering: "Today we are at war, and we know why we have a Navy. We have a Navy so we can accomplish the mission and get it done. We have a Navy so that we can protect the sovereignty of the United States of America in the far corners of the earth."

Clark said that Doran is widely respected for "his experience and perspective of the Pacific," noting that Doran obtained a master's degree on defense studies from Madras University in India and also attended the Indian Defense Services College in Wellington, India.

Doran also commanded the Amphibious Group One in Okinawa and from August 1998 to July 2000 was commander of the 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan.

Doran said that Fargo faced "a lot of significant challenges" as Pacific Fleet commander, with the biggest stemming from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.

In accepting command of 190 ships, including six aircraft carrier battle groups and six amphibious ready groups, Doran said he is ready for "the awesome challenge" that will come from the proposed transformation of the U.S. military and realignment of many of its forces.

Fargo spoke of the legacy of the Pacific Fleet and his pride in today's Navy as being "the best and the most capable."

He noted that in the aftermath of World War II, "Pearl Harbor today is the crossroad between tyranny and liberty. There is no better example."