Pacific Fleet chief to retire after being passed over for promotion

The top Navy commander in the Pacific unexpectedly announced he will retire after being passed over to lead U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM).

U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift said Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) John Richardson informed him that he will not be nominated to replace Adm. Harry Harris as PACOM commander.

“In keeping with tradition and in loyalty to the Navy, I have submitted my request to retire,” Swift said in a statement Monday.

Swift has not yet requested a retirement date, “as there is much work to be done here in the Pacific area of responsibility,” he added.

{mosads}It’s common for Pacific Fleet commanders to be nominated as PACOM head when the previous commander retires. Harris was promoted from the Pacific Fleet to PACOM in May 2015, for example.

But under Swift’s command, the Pacific Fleet’s Seventh Fleet in Japan has had a string of high-profile accidents.

In January, the USS Antietam ran aground while trying to anchor in Tokyo Bay. In May, the USS Lake Champlain hit a South Korean fishing boat.

Then in June, the guided-missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with a container ship off the coast of Japan, killing seven U.S. sailors. The top three leaders of the Fitzgerald were all fired following the incident.

Another guided-missile destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, was hit by an oil tanker on Aug. 20. Ten sailors were killed in that accident.

Seventh Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin was dismissed in August “due to a loss of confidence in his ability to command,” the Navy said in a statement.

Swift, 60, said submitting his retirement request “is done with an abundance of respect and admiration for the CNO and his leadership, as well as for the Chairman and Secretary of Defense as both of them face the challenge of selecting someone to step into the leadership role Adm. Harris has filled with such distinction over the last three years.”