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US Pacific Command renamed as US Indo-Pacific Command PTI|Updated: Jun 02, 2018, 04.24 PM IST WASHINGTON: The United States renamed its oldest and largest military command - the Pacific Command - to Indo-Pacific Command, in a largely symbolic move to signal India's importance to the US military amid heightened tensions with China over the militarisation of the South China Sea. Henceforth, the storied US Pacific Command, or PACOM, which was formed after World War II, will be known as the US Indo-Pacific Command.

China urged U.S. to fire Pacific Command chief Harris in return for pressure on North Korea BEIJING – China urged the United States to sack the head of the U.S. Pacific Command in return for exerting more pressure on North Korea amid concerns over its growing nuclear and missile threats, a source close to U.S.-China ties said Saturday. The Chinese leadership headed by President Xi Jinping made the request, through its ambassador in the United States, to dismiss Adm. Harry Harris, known as a hard-liner on China, including with respect to the South China Sea issue, the source said. China’s...

A controversial plan to move a U.S. Marine Corps base within Okinawa in southern Japan has been pushed back by two years, America's top military official in the Pacific said. Adm. Harry Harris, head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said Tuesday that the shift of the Futenma air station to a less congested part of Okinawa island would not happen until 2025 because work on a new facility has been delayed. "It's slowed," he told a congressional committee in Washington. "It's a little over two years late. ... Now we're looking at 2025 before that's done." The project faces stiff...

Former U.S. Pacific Command Chief Adm. Tim Keating (ret.) reiterated what we’ve been hearing from U.S. defense officials for a while now regarding China: The question isn’t what type of military technology is the Asian giant developing, it’s what will it do with all that firepower? “We kinda have a pretty good feel for what they’re fielding” in terms of weapons, said Keating during a talk on missile defense at the Heritage Foundation here in Washington. For example, the U.S. has known about weapons like the J-20 stealth jet for a while now, according tot the former admiral. “It wasn’t...

Top U.S. military commanders said Friday that they are ready to transfer the wartime command control of South Korean troops to Seoul as scheduled in 2012, but left open the possibility of a delay if governments agree. "To the extent that the government would question that, I think then it becomes a government to government decision between the United States and the Republic of Korea," Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. "This is a government of Korea decision, or certainly OPCON transition will be considered by the government of Korea...

The top commander of US military forces in the Pacific on Thursday confirmed reports that the Chinese army has been upgrading and deploying larger numbers of missiles across the Taiwan Strait. “The PLA has focused considerable effort on building up its integrated air defense capabilities and has deployed an increasing number of upgraded Russian SA-20 PMU 2 along the Taiwan Strait,” Admiral Robert Willard said, ­confirming ­earlier reports by a Canadian defense magazine that said China has deployed eight battalions of advanced missile systems in Fujian Province. Willard also said that Taiwan must someday improve upon its existing fighter jets...

U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp has warned of sudden regime collapse in North Korea and called for urgent preparation for such an eventuality. Sharp was speaking at a subcommittee hearing of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday. "We would also be mindful of the potential for instability in North Korea," he said. "Combined with the country's disastrous centralized economy, dilapidated industrial sector, insufficient agricultural base, malnourished military and populace, and developing nuclear programs, the possibility of a sudden leadership change in the North could be destabilizing and unpredictable." South Korea and the U.S. are ready for any...

A FIGHTER pilot who appeared in the 1986 hit movie Top Gun has been appointed as the highest-ranking US military commander in Asia and the Pacific. Admiral Robert F Willard took control of the US Pacific Command after a ceremony in Hawaii yesterday. Defence Secretary Robert Gates presided over the proceedings during a stop en route to meetings in Japan and South Korea. Willard succeeds Admiral Timothy Keating, who is retiring. The F-14 fighter pilot spent the last two years heading the US Pacific Fleet. During that time, Willard outlined a new US maritime strategy at the Australian Navy Sea...

KHON TV - Super typhoon Ioke is barreling towards Wake Island It's big and packing quite a punch. Super typhoon Ioke is barreling towards Wake Island. The massive storm is churning around in the central pacific. It's packing winds of more than 160 miles per hour, a category five storm. Roy Matsuda from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center says, "it is projected to go along this track toward wake island as you can see and to reach Wake Island approximately Wednesday afternoon our time within 13 nautical miles." And because of that a team from Hawaii will head to Wake...

US Pacific Commander Says New Chinese Law on Taiwan 'Disconcerting' By Al Pessin VOA News Mar 09, 2005 Admiral William Fallon (Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP) WASHINGTON - The new commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Admiral William Fallon, has expressed concern about the new anti-secession law China's legislature is expected to pass next week. In his first public comments since taking over the huge Pacific Command about 10 days ago, Admiral Fallon told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it is at the top of his list to gain a better understanding of the China-Taiwan issue, and what the United States...

"Only in - and from - America."

THE US military said today it had diverted an aircraft carrier, other ships, at least 20 aircraft and thousands of sailors and marines to Asian countries struck by devastating tsunami waves. The men and material were dispatched by US Pacific Command with many of the aircraft heading for Thailand and Sri Lanka, two of the worst hit countries. Logistical problems hampered a massive humanitarian relief operation along Asia's devastated shores as the death toll from a huge earthquake and deadly tidal waves surged past 55,000. “We have diverted the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier and its five ships. They left Hong...

India, US to hold larger joint military exercises Press Trust of IndiaNew Delhi, December 10 India and United States have agreed to hold joint exercises on a bigger scale next year as part of measures to enhance military to military level cooperation between the two countries.The decision to have larger scale exercises was taken at the eighth meeting of Indo-US army executive steering group which met at Southern Army Command headquarters at Pune on Tuesday and Wednesday, an army spokesman in New Delhi.Prior to the actual deliberations, the visiting US army delegation led by Lt Gen James L Campbell, Commanding...