NAPLES, Italy — After 19 months as head of 6th Fleet, Vice Adm. Frank C. Pandolfe has been nominated for a Pentagon job.

Pandolfe has been tapped to be director of strategic plans and policy, J-5, Joint Staff, and senior member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Military Staff Committee, according to a Defense Department news release.

He assumed command of 6th Fleet — which has the largest area of operations in the Navy — in October 2011. In that position, Pandolfe also served as commander of NATO’s Naples-based Striking and Support Forces and as the deputy commander of U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa as well as head of Joint Force Maritime Component Europe. He has commanded two carrier strike groups in the past decade.

His replacement has yet to be nominated, a Navy spokesman said.

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