Samuel Paparo

Samuel John Paparo Jr. (born 1964)[2] is a United States Navy four-star admiral serving as the 64th commander of the United States Pacific Fleet, succeeding Admiral John C. Aquilino on May 5, 2021. He previously served as commander of the United States Naval Forces Central Command, United States Fifth Fleet and Combined Maritime Forces. In previous command tours, Paparo commanded Carrier Strike Group 10 from July 2017 to March 2018 and Carrier Air Wing 7 from August 2011 to December 2012.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]

Samuel Paparo
Official COMUSPACFLT portrait, 2021
Born	1964 (age 58–59)[1] Morton, Pennsylvania
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1987–present
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	United States Pacific Fleet United States Naval Forces Central Command United States Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Forces Carrier Strike Group 10 Carrier Air Wing Seven VFA-106
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan Iraq War
Awards	Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit (4) Bronze Star Medal
Alma mater	Villanova University Old Dominion University (MA) Naval Postgraduate School (MS) Air Command and Staff College Air War College United States Naval War College Joint and Combined Warfighting School

A native of Morton, Pennsylvania, Paparo 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, he was commissioned in 1987 via the Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) program at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. He 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 0f the Joint Forces Staff College.[11][12][13][14]