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| Adm. Sam Locklear (Wiki Info) |
CAMP SMITH, HAWAII -- U.S. Pacific Command, which oversees more than half of the world's surface and consists of 330,000 military and civilian personnel, has a new leader.
Adm. Sam Locklear took over command of PACOM for retiring Adm. Robert Willard during an elaborate ceremony Friday at Camp Smith on Oahu.
Most recently, Locklear served as commander of U.S. Naval forces in Europe, where he coordinated NATO airstrikes on the forces of former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
"Because of Sam Locklear's leadership, he brought NATO together into an operation that successfully took down Gadhafi and gave Libya back to the Libyan people," said U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who traveled to Hawaii for the change of command.
Panetta also praised Willard's leadership of PACOM over the past four years, saying he helped bridge new alliances and partnerships that strengthened the United States' standing in the region.
Read the full story at KITV