Photo courtesy of Department of Defense

Adm. Willard Steps Up, Adm. Keating Steps Down

GUAM - Admiral Robert F. Willard, former Top Gun Officer, is the new commander for the Asia-Pacific region. Willard will oversee roughly 325,000 civilian and military personnel that stretch from Alaska to India, including Guam, according to the Associated Press, as reported by KITV in Honolulu.

Image courtesy of Department of Defense

Willard is due to assume control of the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM) from Adm. Timothy Keating on Monday, October 19, 2009, Hawaii Standard Time (HST).  PACOM is headquartered in Hawaii.  The U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. Pacific Air Forces, U.S. Army Pacific, and the U.S. Marine Corps Forces in the Pacific, will all report to Willard.

For the past two years Willard has led the U.S. Pacific Fleet out of Pearl Harbor.

Read the AP story reported by KITV "US Military To Get New Asia-Pacific Commander" October 18, 2009.

Read more about Admiral Robert F. Willard in his military biography below provided by the official website of the United States Navy:

Photo courtesy of Department of Defense

Admiral Robert F. Willard is a Los Angeles native and a 1973 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He possesses a master's in Engineering Management from Old Dominion University and is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology seminar XXI alumni.

A F-14 aviator, Willard served in a variety of fighter squadrons and aircraft carriers. He was operations officer and executive officer of Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) and commanded the Screaming Eagles of Fighter Squadron 51(VF-51).

Following nuclear power training, Willard commanded the amphibious flagship, USS Tripoli (LPH 10) and the aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72).

As a flag officer, Willard has twice served in the Joint Staff, was deputy and chief of staff of the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, and commanded Carrier Group 5 aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and the U.S. 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan.

In March 2005, Willard became the 34th vice chief of naval operations. He commanded U.S. Pacific Fleet from May, 2007 to Sept. 25, 2009.

Willard's decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit and other various awards.

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