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4th Fleet could return to Central, South America

U.S. 4th Fleet, which hunted submarines in the South Atlantic during World War II until it was dissolved almost six decades ago, is on its way back.

The new 4th Fleet would cover a similar area, with plans to operate from Naval Station Mayport, Fla., and oversee operations in Central and South America. The commander of Naval Forces Southern Command would also be the head of 4th Fleet, Navy officials said.

The fleet would not own any ships. Instead, it would operate in the same way Navy forces do in the Persian Gulf region. In U.S. Central Command, one admiral serves as head of both Naval Forces Central Command and 5th Fleet. Therefore, the dual-hatted admiral in charge of 4th Fleet and NavSouth would be under the commander of Southern Command.

The NavSouth commander has a seat at the operational planning table through Southern Command. The creation of a numbered fleet gives the same commander an official role in allocating training and resources, letting him help tailor the forces for his missions.

The decision to stand up the fleet, Navy officials said, is within the scope of the chief of naval operations, as changing ship home ports are. But a final go-ahead is still a ways off, though sources say the Navy’s leadership is actively working the issue and strongly in favor of the idea.

A final decision will not come until the Navy has briefed military and congressional leaders.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead “believes that having a command-and-control structure in NavSouth aligned with Navy component commands in other regions would enable us to more effectively carry out the maritime strategy,” said Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the Navy at the Pentagon. “More and more, SouthCom is a maritime theater, with Navy forces gaining increasing prominence.”

Recent examples include the deployments of the hospital ship Comfort, amphibious assault ships and the high-speed vessel Swift to the area.

The NavSouth job is held now by a one-star admiral, Rear Adm. James W. Stevenson Jr., though the Navy formally upgraded the billet to that of a two-star admiral last summer, though the service, as is routine, will wait to put a two-star in the job until after Stevenson rotates out later this year.

The five current numbered fleet commanders are three-star admirals. While officials say upgrading the 4th Fleet job to three-star status would be a possibility in the future, such a move would require congressional approval, as it would most likely also require an increase in the number of vice admirals.

The choice of the 4th Fleet name is a nod to precedence and history. In March 1943, the Navy stood up a 4th Fleet whose responsibility was to patrol the South Atlantic for submarines and other enemy vessels. The command lasted until 1950, when it was absorbed into 2nd Fleet in Norfolk, Va.

Southern Command’s area of responsibility encompasses more than 30 countries, covering about 15.6 million square miles, and focuses on the waters adjacent to Central and South America, the Caribbean Sea, its 12 island nations and European territories, the Gulf of Mexico and a portion of the Atlantic Ocean.

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The possible return of the 4th