Harry Harris News

The U.S. military on Wednesday renamed its Pacific Command the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, in a largely symbolic move underscoring the growing importance of India to the Pentagon, U.S. officials said.U.S. Pacific Command, which is responsible for all U.S. military activity in the greater Pacific region, has about 375,000 civilian and military personnel assigned to its area of responsibility, which includes India.“Relationships with our Pacific and Indian Ocean allies and partners have proven critical to maintaining regional stability,” U.S.

The U.S. Coast Guard and a good Samaritan rescued six people from the water near Conch Reef, Fla., Saturday.  A good Samaritan aboard the 25-foot center console, Quality Time, notified Coast Guard Sector Key West watchstanders at approximately 1:46 p.m. of a capsized 22-foot white center console with six people in the water.  Watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Islamorada 33-foot Special Purpose Craft—Law Enforcement crew who arrived on scene and embarked two children due to the fact that they may have ingested salt water, while the good Samaritan embarked four adults. They were transferred to emergency medical services in Tavernier Creek. Towboat Islamorada towed the vessel to Harry Harris Boat Ramp.

The Navy will commission its newest guided-missile destroyer, the future USS John Finn (DDG 113), during a 10 a.m. HAST ceremony Saturday, July 15, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. The new destroyer honors Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John Finn, who received the Medal of Honor for heroism during the first attack by Japanese airplanes at Pearl Harbor. While under heavy machine gun fire, Finn manned a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on an instruction stand in a completely exposed section of the parking ramp. Wounded multiple times, he had to be convinced to leave his post. After receiving first aid treatment, he overcame the effects of his injuries and returned to the squadron area to supervise the rearming of returning planes.

Australia's largest military exercise, Talisman Saber, was officially opened on 29 June aboard the United States Landing Helicopter Dock Bonhomme Richard off the Sydney coast. Minister for Urban Development, the Honourable Paul Fletcher MP, representing the Minister for Defence, and the US Charge d'Affaires, Mr James Carouso, officially announced the start of the combined military exercise taking place thorought July. Field training will occur in Shoalwater Bay Training Area, near Rockhampton and Mount Bundy Training Area, south of Darwin. The Minister was joined by the US Pacific Forces Commander, Admiral Harry Harris, Jr and Officer Conducting the Exercise, Australia's Chief of Joint Operations Vice Admiral David Johnston along with other senior Australian Defence Force leaders.

A U.S. Navy warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built up by China in the South China Sea, U.S. officials said on Wednesday, the first such challenge to Beijing in the strategic waterway since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the USS Dewey traveled close to the Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, among a string of islets, reefs and shoals over which China has territorial disputes with its neighbors. China said its warships had warned the U.S. ship and it lodged "stern representations" with the United States. China said it remained resolutely opposed to so-called freedom of navigation operations. The U.S.

There has been no policy change with regard to U.S. Navy freedom of navigation operations under the administration of President Donald Trump, U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift said on Monday. Under the previous administration, the U.S. navy conducted such voyages through the South China Sea - most of which is claimed by China - angering Beijing. But none has been conducted in the region under the Trump administration. The New York Times reported last week that a U.S. Pacific Command request in March to sail near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing ground that China seized in 2012, was rejected by top Pentagon officials. Two other requests by the Navy in February were also turned down, it said.

Admiral Harry Harris, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, has directed the Carl Vinson Strike Group to sail north and report on station in the Western Pacific Ocean after departing Singapore April 8. Carl Vinson Strike Group, including Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 2, Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108) and USS Michael Murphy (DDG 112), and Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain (CG 57), will operate in the Western Pacific rather than executing previously planned port visits to Australia. The Strike Group will remain under the operational control of U.S. 3rd Fleet as part of the Third Fleet Forward initiative.

The United States is ready to confront China should it continue its overreaching maritime claims in the South China Sea, the head of the U.S. Pacific fleet said on Wednesday, comments that threaten to escalate tensions between the two global rivals. China claims most of the resource-rich South China Sea through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbours Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. The United States has called on China to respect the findings of the arbitration court in The Hague earlier this year which invalidated its vast territorial claims in the strategic waterway. But Beijing continues to act in an "aggressive" manner, to which the United States stands ready to respond, Admiral Harry Harris, head of the U.S.

USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), representing the newest class of surface combatant, was commissioned on October 15 in ceremonies at Baltimore. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus was the principal speaker. “This ship is an example of a larger initiative to increase operational stability and give the U.S. a strategic advantage,” he said. “Our Navy and our Marine Corps, uniquely, provide presence – around the globe, around the clock – ensuring stability, reassuring allies, deterring adversaries and providing the nation's leaders with options in times of crisis,” Mabus said.

The U.S. military conducted "freedom of navigation" operations against 13 countries last year, including several to challenge China's claims in the South and East China seas, according to an annual Pentagon report released on Monday. The operations were against China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, the Maldives, Oman, the Philippines and Vietnam, the report said. It did not specify how many such operations were conducted against each of those countries. The U.S. military carried out single operations against Taiwan, Nicaragua and Argentina, for a total of 13 countries, the department said in the two-page report. The freedom of navigation operations involve sending U.S. Navy ships and military aircraft into areas where other countries have tried to limit access.

China on Wednesday complained the media were ignoring radars and weapons deployed by other claimants in the South China Sea, and unfairly targeting China, following reports of its deployment of fighter jets and radars in the disputed waterway. Over the past week or so China has been reported to have deployed advanced missiles, fighters and radar equipment on islands in the South China Sea, especially on Woody Island in the Paracels. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying reiterated that as far as China was concerned, there was no dispute over ownership of the Paracels, and so China could deploy what it wanted on its territory without reproach.

Satellite images show new missiles on Woody Island; China says entitled to necessary self defence facilities. China has deployed an advanced surface-to-air missile system to one of the disputed islands it controls in the South China Sea, Taiwan and U.S. officials said, ratcheting up tensions even as U.S. President Barack Obama urged restraint in the region. Taiwan defence ministry spokesman Major General David Lo told Reuters on Wednesday the missile batteries had been set up on Woody Island. The island is part of the Paracels chain, under Chinese control for more than 40 years but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam. A U.S. defence official also confirmed the "apparent deployment" of the missiles, first reported by Fox News.

The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said on Friday the United States must carry out freedom of navigation patrols throughout the Asia Pacific, but declined to say whether it planned go within 12 nautical miles of China's artificial islands in the South China Sea. Asked about reports that the United States planned to challenge 12-nautical mile limits around China's artificial islands, he replied: "I will not confirm that. Pressed on the issue, Harris said, "I believe that we should exercise freedom of navigation wherever we need to.

The United States will increase the number of drills it conducts in the Asia-Pacific as part of its new strategy to counter to China’s expansion in the South China Sea, Reuters quoted the Philippine military as saying. Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the US Pacific Command, discussed the Pentagon’s recently drafted Asia Pacific Maritime Security Strategy with his Filipino counterpart, General Hernando Iriberri, during a visit to Manila, Reuters reported. The talks outlined Washington’s actions in the disputed South China Sea and East China Sea, focusing on the protection of “freedom of seas,” deterring conflict and coercion, and promoting adherence to international law, according to Colonel Restituto Padilla, a military spokesman. China claims most of the South China Sea.

The United States plans to increase the number of military and humanitarian drills it conducts in the Asia-Pacific as part of a new strategy to counter China's rapid expansion in the South China Sea, the Philippine military said on Wednesday. Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, highlighted key aspects of the Pentagon's freshly drafted Asia Pacific Maritime Security Strategy during talks with his Filipino counterpart, General Hernando Iriberri, during a visit to Manila. Colonel Restituto Padilla, a military spokesman, told journalists that the report outlined Washington's set of actions in the disputed South China Sea and East China Sea, focusing on the protection of "freedom of seas", deterring conflict and coercion, and promoting adherence to international law.

China embarked upon extensive land reclamation efforts in the disputed Spratly Islands this year, adding huge amounts of terrain as of December to bolster its presence in an area claimed by rivals, a new Pentagon report said. According to a WSJ report, the American officials have determined that in the past five months alone, China has expanded the artificial islands on submerged reefs known as the Spratlys fourfold to as much as 2,000 acres of land. The new estimate, disclosed for the first time, comes as the Pentagon released its annual report on China's military power, says AFP. The report warns that while the intent of Beijing's construction in contested islands in the South China Sea intent is unclear…

China has been building artificial islands on reefs in the many disputed areas around the South China Sea. The unprecedented land reclamation currently being conducted by China is increasing tensions with the U.S. and its allies, according to Pacific Fleet Commander Harry Harris. The land reclamation by China in contested islands of the South China Sea is raising serious questions over whether Beijing intends confrontation or cooperation with other regional powers, according to The Wall Street Journal. Nations in the region are furious, and international business is worried that these new islands dominate major shipping lanes. This new phase of the long conflict between China…

Dec. 7, 1941 is a day that America will never forget. Claiming more than 2,400 American lives, 21 ships sunk or damaged, and more than 300 aircraft lost, the attack on Pearl Harbor goes down as one of the worst attacks on American soil. The Japanese attack came in two waves. During the first wave, six Japanese carriers launched 181 planes carrying torpedo bombers, dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. Only 30 minutes later 170 more aircraft launched their attack on the Harbor. The U.S. was able to repair all but three of the ships sunk or damaged. The three ships that were beyond repair were USS Arizona (BB-39), USS Oklahoma (BB-37), and USS Utah (AG-16). This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

U.S. Navy underwater archeologists, in conjunction with Indonesian Navy divers, have assessed in an interim report that the wrecked vessel surveyed in the Java Sea in June is "consistent with the identification" of the World War II wreck of the cruiser USS Houston (CA 30), and that divers documented conclusive evidence of a pattern of unauthorized disturbance of the gravesite. "We're grateful for the support of our Indonesian partners in determining the condition of the USS Houston," said Adm. Harry Harris, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. "Surveying the site, of course, was only the first step in partnering to respect those Sailors who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the freedoms and security that we richly enjoy today," he added. U.S.