Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

MILITARY

US submarine force in the Pacific gets new commander as Roegge takes over from Sawyer

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • a6c840dc-
    Image 1 of 2

    U.S. Strategic Command commander Adm. Cecil Haney, left, speaks at a change of command ceremony in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015 as Rear Adm. Frederick Roegge, center, and Rear Adm. Phillip Sawyer, right, listen. Roegge took over from Sawyer as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's submarine force during the ceremony. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy) (The Associated Press)

  • 08c5baf5-
    Image 2 of 2

    Rear Adm. Frederick Roegge speaks at a change of command ceremony in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Roegge took over from Rear Adm. Phillip Sawyer as the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet's submarine force during the ceremony. (AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy) (The Associated Press)

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – The U.S. Navy is installing a new commander to lead its submarine force in the Pacific.

Rear Adm. Frederick Roegge (ROW-gee) took over from Rear Adm. Phillip Sawyer during a ceremony at Pearl Harbor on Thursday.

Roegge most recently served in the Pentagon. Sawyer is becoming deputy and chief of staff for the U.S. Pacific Fleet and will stay in Hawaii.

The change comes as growing Chinese operations in places like the South China Sea are boosting U.S. demand for the eavesdropping capabilities of underwater vessels.

Lexington Institute Defense Analyst Loren Thompson says submarines are the only type of intelligence gathering systems that are well suited to listening to Chinese communications.

Thompson says intelligence gathering is the single most important mission for the Pacific Fleet's submarine force.