U.S. Pacific Command

Force Makeup of USPACOM

As of 2012, USPACOM forces numbered approximately 325,000, or roughly 20% of all active U.S. military forces. The heart of USPACOM is the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The fleet comprises six aircraft carrier strike groups numbering approximately 180 ships, 1,500 aircraft, and 100,000 personnel. The Pacific Fleet is divided between the Third Fleet, stationed in California, and the Seventh Fleet, stationed in Japan and is supported by eight destroyer squadrons. Marine Forces, Pacific, contains two thirds of the Marine Corps’s offensive capabilities, comprising the 1st and 3rd Marine Expeditionary Forces, numbering roughly 85,000 personnel. U.S. Pacific Air Forces comprises roughly 400 aircraft, with 100 of those stationed at Guam, along with approximately 40,000 personnel. Organizationally, U.S. Pacific Air Forces is divided into four air force groups. The Fifth Air Force is stationed in Japan, the Seventh in Korea, the Eleventh in Alaska, and the Thirteenth in Hawaii. U.S. Army Pacific personnel number roughly 60,000 and include five Stryker brigades for rapid deployment and projection of American ground power around the Pacific region. Army forces are divided between Alaska, Hawaii, and Japan, with U.S. Army forces in South Korea falling under the purview of the Eighth U.S. Army.

History of USPACOM

President Harry S. Truman created USPACOM on January 1, 1947, to consolidate and coordinate American military personnel and effort in what had formerly been the Pacific Theater of World War II. Admiral John H. Towers served as the first commander in chief of the Pacific Command. This designation was changed in 2002 to the title of combatant commander to clarify the idea of civilian control over the military services, since the president serves as the only commander in chief of the U.S. military. This date of establishment marks USPACOM as the oldest of the six unified combatant commands in the U.S. military. Prior to 1958, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was under the command umbrella of USPACOM but was designated as a separate entity starting in that year with its own command structure.

Over the course of its existence, USPACOM has grown steadily as it has absorbed various area commands that have been shut down. In 1957, USPACOM absorbed the Far East Command, which was established the same year as USPACOM. In 1972, USPACOM’s AOR was expanded with the inclusion of the Indian Ocean basin, southern Asia, and the Arctic as well as incorporating Alaska [Page 1537]Command, which was disestablished that year. Four years later, its AOR was expanded to cover the area of the Indian Ocean up to the eastern coast of Africa, resulting in USPACOM being responsible for an area of more than 100 million square miles. Under President Ronald Reagan, USPACOM responsibilities were once again expanded as China and portions of Asia, including Mongolia and North Korea, were added to the command’s region.

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