Thomas B. Fargo

Thomas Boulton Fargo AO
Admiral Thomas B. Fargo, USN
Born	(1948-06-13) June 13, 1948 San Diego, California
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1970-2005
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	United States Pacific Command USS Salt Lake City
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal (4) Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit (3) Officer of the Order of Australia (Australia) (honorary)

Admiral Thomas Boulton Fargo AO (born June 13, 1948)^[1] served in the United States Navy during the late 20th century and early 21st century. He served as Commander, United States Pacific Command, at Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii from May 2, 2002 to February 26, 2005. He was the twentieth officer to hold the position.

Biography

Born in San Diego, California, in June 1948, Fargo attended high school in Coronado, California, and Sasebo, Japan, and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in June 1970.

His father, Thomas A. Boulton, was a naval officer who was killed in a plane crash in 1957. His mother, Helen, remarried in 1960 to Captain William Fargo, US Navy. Helen was a Lieutenant in the US Navy Nurse Corps during World War II; both Thomas and William graduated from the Naval Academy (Class of 1943 and Class of 1939, respectively.)^[2]

Trained in joint, naval and submarine commands, Fargo served in a variety of sea and shore duty assignments. At sea, his five assignments in both attack and ballistic missile submarines included Executive Officer aboard Plunger and Commanding Officer of Salt Lake City. He served as Commander, Submarine Group SEVEN, Commander Task Force SEVEN FOUR, and Commander Task Force ONE FIVE SEVEN in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf from 1992 to 1993. He commanded the United States FIFTH Fleet and Naval Forces of the Central Command during two years of Iraqi contingency operations from July 1996 to July 1998. Fargo served as the 29th Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet from October 1999 to May 2002.

Ashore, Fargo served in the Bureau of Naval Personnel and with the Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet and has had multiple assignments in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. After his selection to Flag rank in 1994, Admiral Fargo has served as Director of Operations (J-3), U.S. Atlantic Command during the Haiti intervention; as Director, Assessment Division (N-81) for the Chief of Naval Operations; and the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Plans, Policy and Operations (N3/N5).

While serving as Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), Fargo informed the United States Congress of his plans to retire from the Navy. A United States Air Force flag officer was nominated to succeed him. However, an uproar was created in the Senate as it was customary for a Navy flag officer to serve as Commander of PACOM and no other branches, thus the Air Force general was not confirmed by the Senate. Because of the lack of an immediate successor, President Bush extended the mandatory retirement date for Fargo. Admiral Fargo retired from military service in 2005 when the Senate confirmed Admiral William J. Fallon to succeed him as Commander of USPACOM.

Admiral Fargo is a 1989 recipient of the Vice Admiral James Bond Stockdale Award for Inspirational Leadership. His personal decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal (four awards), the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit (three awards). In February 2005 he was appointed an honorary Officer of the Order of Australia, "for distinguished naval service, particularly for strengthening the Australia-United States alliance whilst Commander United States Pacific Command".^[3]

In 2010, the National Bureau of Asian Research appointed Admiral Fargo as the second holder Shalikashvili Chair in National Security Studies,^[4] a chair that was set up to honor General John Shalikashvili.

The Hunt for Red October

Admiral Fargo served as the inspiration for the character of "Commander Bart Mancuso" in the film The Hunt for Red October. Scott Glenn spent several days preparing for his role aboard the Salt Lake City. It was during this time that he decided to base his portrayal of his character on then-Commander Fargo.^[5]

Fargo had told Glenn, "I've given orders to all the men on board to treat you as equal rank with me so every time for the next few days while we are out, when someone comes up and reports to me, they are going to turn around and report to you, and I'm going to tell you what we are going to do about it. There may be once or twice that I'm going to ask you to go to your quarters when we are dealing with stuff that is top secret."^[6]

"Tom Fargo was a strong, tough commander, but he had a degree of relaxation and looseness that I never would have expected." – Scott Glenn.^[6]

"He was incredibly confident...he was this guy you would follow into hell." – Alec Baldwin.^[6]

See also

• United States Navy portal

Notes

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Navy.

• "Biography - Thomas B. Fargo, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command". Department of Defense. Archived from the original on February 20, 2007. Retrieved May 27, 2006. 
• Fargo, Tom (December 31, 2002). "Speech for the Retirement Ceremony of Sr. Chief Anderson". U.S. Pacific Command. Archived from the original on May 24, 2006. Retrieved December 11, 2007. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas B. Fargo.

• Turning to the Pacific: U.S. Strategic Rebalancing toward Asia, coauthored by Thomas B. Fargo, Asia Policy (July 2012)
• The Military Foundations of U.S. Disaster Assistance in Japan, Interview with Admiral Thomas Fargo on military aid to Japan following the 2011 earthquake
• Gorton Center Discussion Series Presents: Admiral Thomas Fargo, Audio podcast of a roundtable discussion with Admiral Thomas Fargo about U.S. defense strategy in the Asia-Pacific.