A Combatant Commander's Perspective on the Asia-Pacific Rebalance
VIEW EVENT DETAILSConversation with Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, USN, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command
Asia Society is honored to host Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), in his first public address to Washington audiences in this role. Adm. Locklear will discuss the U.S. rebalance to Asia and what it means for both the United States and PACOM.
Adm. Locklear leads the oldest and largest of the United States' unified commands. PACOM covers key Asian Pacific, East Asian, and South Asian states, and accounts for one-fifth of total U.S. military strength, and will account for 60 percent of the Navy's total fleet. Currently, the U.S. Pacific Fleet includes six aircraft carrier strike groups, approximately 180 ships, 1,500 aircraft and 100,000 personnel.
Admiral Samuel Locklear is a 1977 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal with one gold star, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with four gold stars, Bronze Star Medal, and numerous individual, campaign and unit awards. Prior to his appointment as Commander of PACOM on March 9, 2012, he commanded numerous surface warfare assignments including the USS Leftwich (DD 984), Destroyer Squadron Two, Nimitz Strike Group, U.S. 3rd Fleet and the U.S. Naval Forces Europe, U.S. Naval Forces Africa, and Allied Joint Force Command Naples. Admiral Locklear also served as executive assistant to the Vice Chief of Naval Operations; the 78th commandant of Midshipmen, United States Naval Academy; director, Assessment Division (OPNAV N81); director, Programming Division (OPNAV N80); and, as director, Navy Staff. He is a 1992 graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and holds a master's degree in Public Administration from George Washington University.
Tom Gjelten covers a wide variety of global security and economic issues for NPR News. Prior to his current assignment, he covered U.S. diplomacy and military affairs, first from the State Department and then from the Pentagon. He was reporting live from the Pentagon at the moment it was hit on September 11, 2001, and was NPR's lead Pentagon reporter during the war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. His overseas reporting experience includes stints in Mexico City as NPR's Latin America correspondent (1986-1990) and in Berlin as Central Europe correspondent (1990-1994). He is the author of Sarajevo Daily: A City and Its Newspaper Under Siege, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba: The Biography of a Cause, and Professionalism in War Reporting: A Correspondent's View.
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This event is made possible by the generous sponsorship of: