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Royal Navy Commodore Assumes Command of Task Force 58

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS051123-12
Release Date: 11/23/2005 8:00:00 PM

By Photographer’s Mate 1st Class Curt Cooper Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Public Affairs

USS SAN JACINTO, Persian Gulf (NNS) -- Royal Navy Commodore Bruce Williams assumed command of Combined Task Force 58, the multinational coalition forces responsible for conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the Persian Gulf, Nov. 18.

U.S. Navy Capt. Hank Miranda had led the MSO effort in the Gulf for the previous three months as the commander of Task Group 58.1.

MSO seeks to preserve the free and secure use of the world’s oceans by legitimate mariners and prevent terrorists from attempting to use the maritime environment as a venue for attack or as a medium to transport personnel, weapons or other illicit material.

“The strength of a coalition is greater than the sum of its parts,” said Williams. “In terms of the coalition here in the northern Arabian Gulf, the real demonstration of that concerted strength and concerted capability is the fact that here I am, as a British one-star, in charge of a force made up of Australian, American, United Kingdom and Iraqi forces able to operate together.”

As part of MSO in the Gulf, CTF 58 is also entrusted with the security of Iraq's Al Basra and Khwar Al Amaya oil terminals. These two oil terminals account for a significant percentage of Iraq's revenue and are vital to the Iraqi rebuilding process.

“The role of CTF 58 is to assist the Iraqis sustain their territory and to ensure that its economic infrastructure is unharmed by those who wish to see the current progress in democracy to fail,” said Williams.

“It is a coalition which is increasingly turning toward assisting the Iraqis in the protection of their own assets as opposed to a coalition which is doing it on their behalf,” he said. "We are in a transition phase, as we speak, in developing the Iraqi forces."

USS San Jacinto (CG 56) will serve as Williams’ flagship, marking the first time a Royal Navy Commodore has flown his flag over a U.S. Navy warship since the end of World War I.

“The importance of a flagship is that it has the capacity and capability to command forces both close to and at range and has the flexibility to operate in many different dimensions,” said Williams. “You need a ship of this scale and capacity to be able to command the diversity of forces we have here in the northern Gulf to ensure the protection of Iraqi territorial waters.”