Former TOPGUN instructor Rat Willard takes over PACOM:
Command of U.S. forces in Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans passed to a new commander on Monday at a ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii. Navy Admiral Robert Willard said the U.S. commitment to the region will continue.
In a ceremony steeped in tradition, Admiral Timothy Keating transferred command of all U.S. forces in the region to Admiral Willard, who has been working for him as chief of U.S. Navy forces in the area for the last two years.
That puts you in charge of the US military efforts in, well: Half of the world.
Congrats, bro. Em. Sir.
Don’t fork it up 
He also flew one of the F-5s in the movie Top Gun.
Makes sense, since he was a TOPGUN instructor pilot in 1986 and probably flew F-5’s in the adversary squadron.
What’s next for Timbo, er, ADM Keating?
According to Wiki: They piped him over the side…gone fishing. 42 years of service.
Great man! Worked for him at the Northern VA penitentiary for wayward fighter pilots. Best Top Cover I’ve ever had in a Boss.
“Rat” Willard . . . you Navy guys make me so proud when I hear ‘handles’ like this. Truly. Takes me back to college and fraternity nicknames that stuck to quite a few guys.
BTW: I first saw “Rat” Willard somewhere else and at that time I was chuckling to beat the band, too.
I would like to know who the planning and operations guys are on Admiral Willard’s staff who are responsible for getting material to the right place at the right time and what contingency plans they have for back-up air transportation. Seems DTS (Defense Transportation Service) C5A Galaxy fleet the USAF are running are not able to handle the demand.
Maybe you oughta ask TRANSCOM, since they own and schedule all the C-5s.
XBradTC,
Thanks, know TRANSCOM well. With global DoD units utilizing available C-5 transport to Afghanistan plus the civilian contractors with restricted, secure and dangerous loads consigned to military units competing with Department of State, FBI, DEA, NSA and a host of other U.S. Government agencies with sensitive cargo, weapons, ammunition, flares, fuses, ignitors, scopes, batteries, toxic, flammable, explosive and you name it cargo for the limited capacity, the C-5’s are oversubscribed.
Shippers tell stories about 3-4 week “wait times” in order to book space on a C-5…..
As of now, the admiral is headed back east to rest up for a few months, then it’s “wait and see” as to what’s next. With his energy, I doubt he’ll be down for long.
Guess it is a good thing that 2008 was the Chinese Year of the Rat. Next Year of the Rat – 2020. Here’s hoping that Rat has a peaceful watch at the helm.
Had the pleasure of serving under/with him on good ship USS Abraham Lincoln. He came aboard in June 1995 while we were on deployment to the Persian Gulf. Always remember the first time I saw our PCO. He had a large broom in his hand and was out scrubbing the flight deck with the V-1 airman prior to pulling into port.
Mind you it was upwards of 115 degrees on the flight deck at the time.