Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command
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Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (COMUSFF/COMFLTFORCOM) is the title of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
officer who serves as the
commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...
of the
United States Fleet Forces Command The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Stat ...
. The U.S. Fleet Forces Command was originally established in 1905 as the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and as a two-star
rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
's billet; the position has been held by a four-star
admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
since March 10, 1915. The 45th, and current, commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command is Admiral Daryl L. Caudle.


Title's history

The first Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet was Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, who assumed command on January 1, 1906 aboard his flagship the battleship . The title, Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, was continuously used from 1906 until 1923 and again from 1941 to 2002. In a reorganization of the
United States Fleet The United States Fleet was an organization in the United States Navy from 1922 until after World War II. The acronym CINCUS, pronounced "sink us", was used for Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. This was replaced by COMINCH in December 1941 ...
in 1923, that title was abolished and the title Commander Scouting Force was used. On February 1, 1941, General Order 143 reestablished the title and reorganized the United States Fleet into three separate fleets: the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, the
U.S. Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor†...
and the U.S. Asiatic Fleet. The order further stated each fleet would be under the command of a four-star admiral. Thus, on February 1, 1941, Rear Admiral
Ernest J. King Ernest Joseph King (23 November 1878 – 25 June 1956) was an American naval officer who served as Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II. As COMINCH-CNO, he directed the Un ...
, in his flagship at
Culebra, Puerto Rico Isla Culebra (, ''Snake Island'') is an island, town and municipality of Puerto Rico and geographically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands. It is located approximately east of the Puerto Rican mainland, west of St. Thomas and north of Vieque ...
, hauled down his two-star flag and hoisted his four-star flag as Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. After the end of World War II, the organization of the
United States armed forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
was reviewed with a view toward reorganization after the turbulent war years. On December 1, 1947, under a reorganization act of the armed forces approved by Congress, the unified combatant command,
United States Atlantic Command United States Atlantic Command (acronym from 1947-1993 USLANTCOM, after 1993 USACOM) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense. In 1999, U.S. Atlantic Command was renamed and given a new mission as United State ...
, was established with headquarters co-located to those of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Admiral William H.P. Blandy was given the dual-hatted command of both U.S. Atlantic Fleet and U.S. Atlantic Command thus becoming the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet and the first Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command. The two titles remained linked until another reorganization of the armed forces, via the Goldwater-Nichols Act in 1985, separated the U.S. Atlantic Command from the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. In the early 1950s, the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
(NATO) decided to establish a new major command,
Allied Command Atlantic An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
, under the command of a U.S. four-star admiral with headquarters in
Norfolk, VA Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Bea ...
. Since this was primarily a naval command responsible for allied defense of the North Atlantic, the decision was made to co-locate this organization with that of the U.S. Atlantic Command and U.S. Atlantic Fleet, to form a triple-hatted command. On April 10, 1952, Admiral
Lynde D. McCormick Lynde Dupuy McCormick (August 12, 1895 â€“ August 16, 1956) was a List of United States Navy four-star admirals, four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations, vice chief of naval operations from 195 ...
, the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command and U.S. Atlantic Fleet, assumed the additional title as the first
Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic The Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT) was one of two supreme commanders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the other being the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The SACLANT led Allied Command Atlantic was based at ...
. Like the U.S. Atlantic Command, the Allied Command Atlantic remained intact and part of a triple-hatted command organization until the Goldwater-Nichols Act occurred in 1985. The Goldwater-Nichols Act separated command of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet from the other two commands giving the U.S. Atlantic Fleet its own four-star admiral. Admiral
Wesley L. McDonald Wesley Lee McDonald (July 6, 1924February 8, 2009) was a United States Navy admiral and naval aviator. He led the first air strike against North Vietnam after the Gulf of Tonkin incident and was the commander in charge of Operation Urgent Fury, t ...
was the last U.S. Navy admiral to command all three organizations at the same time. He relinquished command of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet to Admiral Carlisle A. H. Trost on October 4, 1985. However, under the Goldwater-Nichols Act, the admiral filling the post of Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, would also serve as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command. This role for CINCLANTFLT continued until 1986 when the
Secretary of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
approved a separate billet for the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command. On September 16, 1986, Admiral
Frank B. Kelso II Frank Benton Kelso II (July 11, 1933 – June 23, 2013) was an admiral of the United States Navy, who served as Chief of Naval Operations from 1990 to 1994. Early life Kelso was born in Fayetteville, Tennessee, on July 11, 1933. He attended public ...
relinquished the Deputy USCINCLANT post to Major General Thomas G. Darling, USAF. On October 1, 2001, the
Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...
designated the CINCLANTFLT to concurrently serve as Commander,
U.S. Fleet Forces Command The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Stat ...
. U.S. Fleet Forces Command became responsible for overall coordination, establishment, and implementation of integrated requirements and policies for manning, equipping, and training Atlantic and Pacific Fleet units during the inter-deployment training cycle. On October 24, 2002, Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld Donald Henry Rumsfeld (July 9, 1932 – June 29, 2021) was an American politician, government official and businessman who served as Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under president Gerald Ford, and again from 2001 to 2006 under Presi ...
directed that the title of "Commander-in-Chief" be reserved solely for the President of the United States. In a message to Naval Commanders-in-Chief, the Chief of Naval Operations directed a change of title to that of "Commander." This change affected the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, U.S. Pacific Fleet, and U.S. Naval Forces Europe thus renaming Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet to Commander, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. On May 23, 2006, the Chief of Naval Operations ordered the assimilation of U.S. Atlantic Fleet into U.S. Fleet Forces Command and that the dual-hatted position be integrated to its current title of Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command. On October 31, 2006, a ceremony was held to officially mark the transition of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and U.S. Fleet Forces Command to just U.S. Fleet Forces Command. Three of the 37 previous admirals who held the top post in the Atlantic fleet attended the ceremony, which was held aboard the aircraft carrier .


Appointment

The Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command is nominated by the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
for appointment from any eligible officers holding the rank of
rear admiral (lower half) A rear admiral in the uniformed services of the United States is either of two different ranks of commissioned officers: one-star flag officers and two-star flag officers. By contrast, in most other countries, the term "rear admiral" refers only t ...
or above,
10 USC 601. Positions of importance and responsibility: generals and lieutenant generals; admirals and vice admirals.
who also meets the requirements for the position, under the advice and/or recommendation of the United States Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Navy, the
Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...
, and if applicable the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) is the presiding officer of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). The chairman is the highest-ranking and most senior military officer in the United States Armed Forces Chairman: app ...
. The nominee must be confirmed via majority vote by the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. For the
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
, flag officer tours are usually limited to two years.


List of commanders


See also

*
Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT), is the title of the United States Navy officer who commands the United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT). Originally established in 1907 as a two-star rear admiral's billet, the position has been held ...


References


External links


U.S. Fleet Forces Command
official website

{{US Navy navbox *Commander, U.S. Fleet