Samuel Paparo

Samuel John Paparo Jr. (born 1964) is a United States Navy admiral who has served as the commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command since May 3, 2024. He most recently served as commander of the United States Pacific Fleet from 2021 to 2024.

Early life and education
Samuel John Paparo Jr. was born in 1964, and is a native of Morton, Pennsylvania. He is the son of a former enlisted Marine and the grandson of a World War II enlisted sailor. As a youth, Paparo attended Cardinal O'Hara High School. A graduate of Villanova University in 1987, he was commissioned via the Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) program at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, also in 1987. He is a graduate of Navy's Strike training pipeline (i.e., carrier-based tactical jet) as a Naval Aviator and was later designated as a Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor (SFTI) as a graduate of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School ("TOPGUN").

Paparo earned an M.A. degree in International Studies from Old Dominion University and an M.S. degree in Systems Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School. He also graduated from the Air Command and Staff College, the Air War College, the Naval War College and the Joint and Combined Warfighting School of the Joint Forces Staff College.

Career
Paparo's training qualified him as a naval aviator on the F-14, USAF F-15 and F/A-18 airframes; as of October 2020, he has flown more than 6,000 hours in those aircraft, and had made more than 1,100 landings on aircraft carriers. Paparo served with the U.S. Navy's Carrier Air Wing 7 (CVW-7) as deputy air wing commander from October 2009 through August 2011, embarked aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. The air wing, composed of eight squadrons, included "F/A-18C/E/F Hornets and Super Hornets, E-2C Hawkeye airborne command and control aircraft, EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, SH-60F/HH-60H Seahawk helicopters, and C-2A Greyhound logistics aircraft", with 1,500 enlisted personnel and officers assigned. He subsequently took command of CVW-7 in August 2011, relieving Captain Roy J. Kelley, a position he remained in until December 2012.

Paparo then went on to command Carrier Strike Group 10 (CSG-10) from July 2017, until March 2018, a group comprising the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, a carrier air wing (CVW 3, which included substantial fixed and rotary wing airframes and personnel, including early warning and electronic attack units), and guided missile cruisers USS San Jacinto, USS Vella Gulf, and USS Monterey, and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON, with its guided missile destroyers USS Stout, USS Oscar Austin, and USS McFaul). In addition to a variuety of global training and exercise events, Paparo's forces provided intensive support for "Defense Support to Civilian Authorities (DSCA) operations", following Hurricane Irma's impact on the Florida keys in September 2017 (overseeing a task force of multiple units that cleared roads, and restored boat ramp and flight operations at Naval Air Station Key West, and electrical, water, and air conditioning services to vital military and civilian buildings in coordination with the Florida National Guard and FEMA).

After being elevated to the rank of U.S. Navy Vice Admiral, Paparo served as commander of the United States Fifth Fleet, headquartered in Bahrain, overseeing "all U.S. naval forces stationed throughout the Middle East", including coordination of the 33-country international naval coalition that "oversees safety of those waters and supports operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan". In addition, he served as director of operations of the United States Central Command out of MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. and went on to command the Combined Maritime Forces.

As of May 5, 2021, he had been elevated to the rank of four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and was serving as the 64th commander of the United States Pacific Fleet (succeeding Admiral John C. Aquilino).

In July 2023, Paparo was nominated for reappointment to the grade of admiral and assignment as the commander of United States Indo-Pacific Command. Adm. Samuel J. Paparo assumed command of United States Indo-Pacific Command from Adm. John C. Aquilino during a change of command ceremony May 3, 2024.