PENTAGON REVIVING 4TH FLEET FOR THE SOUTH ATLANTIC

NO NEW VESSELS. JUST A NEW COMMAND WHICH STRENGTHENS THE SOUTHERN COMMAND AND SENDS A SIGNAL TO THE EMERGING TYRANTS OF SOUTH AMERICA. MILITARY. COM:

The Navy is considering restoring the Fourth Fleet in the Atlantic Ocean, a bureaucratic change that would raise the prominence of Pentagon maritime activities in Latin America and Caribbean. ...

The move would ... put Southcom on par administratively with other Pentagon outposts that have large budgets and bigger muscle. For example, the Central Command operates the Fifth Fleet in the Middle East.

It would also restore an institution that sent U.S. Navy warships into southern waters in search of Nazi U-boats. The Navy created the Fourth Fleet in 1943 to hunt submarines in the South Atlantic during World War II. It was disbanded seven years later with naval operations in the region run from Norfolk, Va.

At the Pentagon, Navy Cmdr. Jeff Davis said no final decision has been made. ...

In theory, the Fourth Fleet would operate out of Mayport, Fla. ... Davis emphasized that no new vessels - and no additional budget - would come with the creation of a Fourth Fleet. Instead, warships from various bases would be assigned to sail in the fleet - in waters stretching from the Caribbean through Central and South America.

Military analysts said the establishment of a Fourth Fleet admiral could elevate Southcom's prominence in discussions on where ships are deployed - and would surely send a signal to southern neighbors.

"It gives the Navy a bigger profile in the region," said Frank Mora, professor of national security strategy at the National War College in Washington, D.C. "It sends a message to the region that you are important at a time when there is a sense that we don't care."

GO NAVY!