INDOPACOM, it is: US Pacific Command gets renamed

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced Wednesday that U.S. Pacific Command would now be called U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in the latest move to counter Chinese economic and military pressure in the region.

Mattis said he directed the name change in recognition that “all nations large and small are essential to the region, in order to sustain stability in ocean areas critical to global peace.”

RELATED

China was just uninvited from a massive naval exercise. Here’s why.

The withdrawn invite follows a directive by the Pentagon to remove Chinese cellphones, other devices from exchanges over espionage fears.

By Tara Copp

Mattis made the remarks at the change of command ceremony in Pearl Harbor for incoming INDOPACOM commander Adm. Phil Davidson.

“In recognition of the increasing connectivity of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, today we rename the U.S. Pacific Command to U.S.-Indo Pacific Command,” Mattis said.

While Mattis stressed that the change was not meant to be combative, it did signal America’s commitment to ensure that every country “no matter its size …. [is] not bound by any nation’s predatory economics or threat of coercion.”

RELATED

The US Navy just sailed through Chinese-claimed waters again

A routine freedom of navigation operation is the latest in a series of events escalating tensions between the countries.

By Victoria Leoni

However, outgoing commander of the former U.S. Pacific Command, Navy Adm. Harry Harris, was more direct in his assessment of China’s impact on the region.

“Great power competition is back,” Harris said. “I believe we are reaching an inflection point in history…. A geo-political competition between free and oppressive visions is taking place in the Indo-Pacific.”

In Other News

Army football alums make general more often than other officers — why?

Army Times conducted data analysis that shows Army West Point football players are significantly more likely to become generals.

How Army Times confirmed a West Point football to general pipeline

Army Times senior reporter Davis Winkie reflects on the methods and inspiration that led to his recent story.

WNBA star freed in US-Russia prisoner swap, Marine veteran still held

The swap, at a time of heightened tensions over Ukraine, achieved a top goal for President Joe Biden but carried a heavy price.

Limiting Gen Z Marines’ phone use hard but necessary, top Marine says

“Now we have to completely undo 18 years of communicating all day long and tell them, ‘That’s bad, that will get you killed.’”

Japanese faces, American hearts

Executive Order 9066 forced first- and second-generation Japanese-Americans into internment camps.

Load More