(l to r) Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, Rear Adm. George Wikoff and Rear Adm. Tom Anderson
Temporary leaders for the Naval Academy, Naval Air Forces and Naval Sea Systems Command are set to step into acting roles between now and Sept. 7, as an ongoing hold on confirming senior military nominations continues, USNI News has learned.
Rear Adm. Fred Kacher will start next week as the superintendent of the Naval Academy after Vice Adm. Sean Buck prepares to retire, a USNA official confirmed to USNI News....
The following is the Aug. 21, 2023, Congressional Research Service report, China Primer: South China Sea Disputes.
From the report
Multiple Asian governments assert sovereignty over rocks, reefs, and other geographic features in the heavily trafficked South China Sea (SCS), with the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) arguably making the most assertive claims. The United States makes no territorial claim in the SCS and takes no position on sovereignty over any of the geographic features in...
https://news.usni.org/2023/08/22/report-to-congress-on-south-china-sea-disputes
Guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG-69) steams alongside the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Charles Drew (T-AKE-10) during an underway replenishment while operating in the Philippine Sea, March 16. US Navy Photo
VA – The Navy denied that an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile illegally entered China’s maritime territory and was chased off by People’s Liberation Army forces, contradicting claims by China’s Southern Theatre Command.
China claimed early Thursday morning that USS Milius...
Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, commander, U.S. 7th Fleet, speaks to the crew of mine countermeasures ship USS Pioneer (MCM-9) over the ship’s 1MC during a tour, June 9, 2022. US Navy Photo
Current U.S. 7th Fleet commander Vice Adm. Karl Thomas as the next deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare (OPNAV N2/N6) and director of naval intelligence, the Pentagon announced Wednesday.
Vice Adm. Karl Thomas was also nominated for reappointment to vice admiral, according to the Pentagon flag...
Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse in San Diego, Calif.
Six years after pleading guilty and admitting he took “lavish” bribes from a foreign defense contractor, a retired Navy captain was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in federal prison, U.S. prosecutors in San Diego, Calif., announced this week.
Capt. Jesus Vasquez Cantu, 64, is the latest former U.S. 7th Fleet official to be sentenced for conspiracy to commit bribery as part of the long-running corruption and bribery investigation...
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.
Part of that plan...
https://news.usni.org/2023/02/15/coast-guard-moving-cutter-to-pacific-as-regional-missions-expand
Then Cmdr. David Haas. US Navy Photo
A former U.S. 7th Fleet operations officer was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in federal prison – two years after pleading guilty – for taking bribes in exchange for steering lucrative contracts to a foreign defense contractor.
Retired Navy Capt. David W. Haas, 54, of Kailua, Hawaii, originally faced a longer prison time if convicted of eight counts in an August 2018 federal indictment into the wide corruption and bribery scandal surrounding Leonard Glenn...
Rear Adm. Fred Kacher (l), Rear Adm. George Wikoff (r)
Two admirals currently serving in the Pentagon on the Joint Staff have been nominated to lead numbered fleets in the Middle East and the Pacific, the Department of Defense announced on Friday.
Rear Adm. Fred Kacher, currently the vice director for Operations (J-3) on the Joint Staff, has been nominated for a third star and to command U.S. 7th Fleet based in Yokosuka, Japan, according to the announcement. He would succeed the current 7th Fleet...
https://news.usni.org/2023/01/28/white-house-nominates-new-commanders-for-pacific-middle-east-fleets
