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Rear Adm. Troy Shoemaker to command Navy's Pac Fleet air forces
Stars and Stripes
November 20, 2014
Navy Rear Adm. Troy Shoemaker, seen here in 2011 presenting a ball cap to a patient at the Children's Hospital of Orange County, was promoted to the rank of vice admiral Wednesday and appointed commander Naval Air Forces, and commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, based out of San Diego, California. Shoemaker had been serving as commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Virginia. (Kirk Putnam/U.S. Navy)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Rear Adm. Troy “Mike” Shoemaker has been promoted and named the next commander of the Naval Air Forces and Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet, according to a Defense Department statement.
Shoemaker will assume the rank of vice admiral and report to San Diego from his current post as commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic Fleet based in Norfolk, Va., the statement said Wednesday. The appointment was announced by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on behalf of President Barack Obama.
Shoemaker is a career pilot with over 4,400 flight hours, mostly in the A-7E Corsair and the F/A-18C Hornet, and 1,066 carrier-arrested landings, according to his Navy biography. He is the previous commander of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and has been awarded the Air Medal with combat “V” in addition to numerous meritorious service medals and awards.
He replaces Vice Admiral David Buss, who has held the position since October 2012, according to his Navy biography.