Tag Archives: Adm. John Aquilino

Pentagon: Red Hill Defueling on Track, Joint Task Force Starting Environmental Assessment

Pentagon: Red Hill Defueling on Track, Joint Task Force Starting Environmental Assessment

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Fleet Logistics Center (FLC) Pearl Harbor employees uses tools to relocate contaminated soil onto a wheelbarrow as part of NAVFAC Public Works Department and Joint Task Force-Red Hill’s (JTF-RH) hazard material spill recovery operation at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility (RHBFSF) in Halawa, Hawaii, Dec. 1, 2022. US Army Photo

This story has been updated to clarify that the Joint Task Force is responsible for defueling the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. 

The Joint Task Force – Red Hill is on target to meet the July 2024 deadline to defuel the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility in Hawaii, the Department of Defense said Thursday. Read More

INDOPACOM: China Has Not Responded to U.S. Attempts to Establish Communication

INDOPACOM: China Has Not Responded to U.S. Attempts to Establish Communication

Adm. John C. Aquilino, Commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, listens to a brief during the USINDOPACOM Commander’s Summit in Hawaii on Dec. 13, 2022. U.S. Navy Photo

China has not responded to any of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s requests to establish direct communication channels between its commander and the commanders of China’s main military commands, Adm. John Aquilino said Thursday. Read More

Coast Guard Moving Cutter to Pacific as Regional Missions Expand

Coast Guard Moving Cutter to Pacific as Regional Missions Expand

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bear, a 270 foot, medium endurance cutter, arrives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to deliver supplies, Oct. 9, 2017. The supplies included donations collected by Customs and Border Patrol members. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Bear, a 270 foot, medium endurance cutter, arrives in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to deliver supplies, Oct. 9, 2017. US Coast Guard Photo

SAN DIEGO – Driven by greater demand for its partnerships and presence in the Indo-Pacific region, the U.S. Coast Guard is growing its operational presence in the vast region that’s unsettled by continuing incursions from China’s naval militia and fishing fleet, the Pacific Area commander told an audience today. Read More

Defense Secretary Austin to Meet with Red Hill Team in Hawaii

Defense Secretary Austin to Meet with Red Hill Team in Hawaii

A firefighter, attached to Federal Fire Department Hawaii, conducts environmental testing during a spill response exercise at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility on Sept. 22, 2022. US Navy Photo

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will travel to Hawaii to meet with Indo-Pacific partners and get an update on the effort to defuel the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, a Pentagon spokesman announced Tuesday. Read More

MDA: US Has Several Options To Defend Guam From Missile Threats

MDA: US Has Several Options To Defend Guam From Missile Threats

On Nov. 16, U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Navy sailors aboard USS John Finn (DDG 113), an Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System-equipped destroyer, fired a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA guided missile that successfully intercepted and destroyed a mock Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) during a flight test demonstration in the broad ocean area northeast of Hawaii in November 2020. MDA photo.

The U.S. has several options to defend Guam against attack, the director of the Missile Defense Agency said this week, as the House Armed Service Committee wants more details on what exactly will be put in place against different threats and at what cost. Read More

Paparo Takes Command of U.S. Pacific Fleet, Cooper Now Leading U.S. 5th Fleet

Paparo Takes Command of U.S. Pacific Fleet, Cooper Now Leading U.S. 5th Fleet

Vice Adm. Sam Paparo, left, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), U.S. 5th Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), is relieved by Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, right, during a change of command ceremony presided over by Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, onboard Naval Support Activity Bahrain, on May 5, 2021. US NAvy Photo

The former commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East is now leading the U.S. Pacific Fleet, according to the Navy. Read More

VIDEO: SECDEF Austin, New INDOPACOM Head Affirm U.S. Commitment to Pacific During Change of Command

VIDEO: SECDEF Austin, New INDOPACOM Head Affirm U.S. Commitment to Pacific During Change of Command

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin delivers remarks during the change of command ceremony for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command on April 30, 2021. DoD Photo

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command welcomed a new commander as Adm. Phil Davidson handed the leadership to Adm. John Aquilino in a Hawaii ceremony while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin provided his first public comments on how the U.S. military will operate in the region. Read More

Senate Confirms Aquilino to Serve as Next INDO-PACOM Commander

Senate Confirms Aquilino to Serve as Next INDO-PACOM Commander

Adm. John Aquilino, U.S. Pacific Fleet commander, speaks with 13 other heads of navies or their representatives from allied and partner nations throughout the Indo-Pacific region during a virtual key leader engagement to discuss outlooks and perspectives in this COVID-19 environment on Sept. 23, 2020. US Navy Photo

The Senate today voted to confirm Adm. John Aquilino as the new head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Read More