Haney assumes command of the U.S. Pacific Fleet

Adm. Cecil  Haney, former deputy of the U.S. Strategic Command, relieved Adm. Patrick M. Walsh as commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during a change of command ceremony onboard Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Friday.

Walsh is retiring after 34 years in the Navy.

Under Walsh’s command, U.S. Pacific Fleet provided humanitarian relief for numerous countries struck by natural disasters including Operation Tomodachi, which helped the victims of the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent radiological crisis that impacted Japan in March 2011.  

Haney is the 33rd naval officer to command the Pacific Fleet since it was established in February 1941 with headquarters at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a bachelor’s of science degree in oceanic engineering, Haney is also a recipient of the Vice Admiral James Stockdale Leadership Award for 1998.

The world’s largest fleet command, U.S. Pacific Fleet encompasses 100 million square miles from the west coast of the United States into the Indian Ocean. The Pacific Fleet consists of approximately 180 ships, nearly 2,000 aircraft and 125,000 Sailors, Marines and Civilians.