United States Fifth Fleet The Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy is responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf , Red Sea , Arabian Sea , and coast off East Africa as far south as Kenya . It shares a commander and headquarters with U . S . Naval Forces Central Command ( NAVCENT ) . , the commander of the 5th Fleet is Vice Admiral John W . Miller . Fifth Fleet / NAVCENT is a component command of , and reports to , U . S . Central Command ( CENTCOM ) . History . The Fifth Fleet was initially established on 26 April 1944 from Central Pacific Force under the command of Admiral Raymond Spruance . The ships of the Fifth Fleet also formed the basis of the Third Fleet , which was the designation of the " Big Blue Fleet " when under the command of Admiral William F . Halsey , Jr . . Spruance and Halsey would alternate command of the fleet for major operations , allowing the other admiral and his staff time to prepare for the subsequent one . A secondary benefit was confusing the Japanese into thinking that they were actually two separate fleets as the fleet designation flipped back and forth . Following the end of World War II , the 5th Fleet was deactivated . Prior to the first Gulf War in 1990 - 1991 , U . S . naval operations in the Persian Gulf region were directed by the Commander , Middle Eastern Force ( COMMIDEASTFOR ) . Since this organization was considered insufficient to manage large scale combat operations during the Gulf War , the United States Seventh Fleet — primarily responsible for the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean and normally based in Japan — was given the temporary task of managing the force during the period . However , no numbered fleet existed permanently within the USCENTCOM area of responsibility . By July 1995 , a new numbered fleet was deemed necessary . After a 48 - year hiatus , the U . S . 5th Fleet was reactivated , replacing COMMIDEASTFOR , and it now directs operations in the Persian Gulf , Red Sea , and Arabian Sea . Its headquarters are at NSA Bahrain located in Manama , Bahrain . For the early years of its existence , its forces normally consisted of an Aircraft Carrier Battle Group ( CVBG ) , an Amphibious Ready Group ( ARG ) , surface combatant s , submarine s , maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft , and logistics ships . However , with the War on Terrorism , the naval strategy of the U . S . has changed . The regular deployments of the Cold War are now a thing of the past . Consequently , the policy of always maintaining a certain number of ships in various parts of the world is also over . However , its usual configuration now includes a Carrier Strike Group , Amphibious Ready Group or Expeditionary Strike Group , and other ships and aircraft with almost 15 , 000 people serving afloat and 1 , 000 support personnel ashore . Carrier Group Three formed the core of the naval power during the initial phase of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001 . Commander , Carrier Group Three ( Rear Admiral Thomas E . Zelibor ) arrived in the Arabian Sea on 12 September 2001 and was subsequently designated Commander Task Force 50 ( CTF 50 ) , commanding multiple carrier strike groups and coalition forces . The Task Force conducted strikes against Al Quida and Taliban forces in Afghanistan . Task Force 50 comprised over 59 ships from six nations including six aircraft carriers , stretching over 800 nautical miles . Fifth Fleet forces peaked in early 2003 , when five USN aircraft carriers ( CV and CVNs ) , six USN amphibious assault ships ( LHA s and LHD s ) and their embarked USMC air ground combat elements , their escorting and supply vessels , and over 30 Royal Navy vessels were under its command . In the Persian Gulf , United States Coast Guard surface ships attached to the Fifth Fleet were under the command of Destroyer Squadron 50 ( CDS - 50 ) commanded by Captain Peterson of the Navy . " Boutwell " , " Walnut " , and the four patrol boats were part of this group . The shore detachments , MCSD and PATFOR SWA also operated under the command of CDS - 50 . For actual operations , the Coast Guard forces were part of two different task forces . The surface units were part of Task Force 55 ( CTF - 55 ) . Command of CTF - 55 actually shifted during OIF . Initially , Rear Admiral Costello , Commander of the Constellation Battle Group , commanded CTF - 55 . The surface forces were designated Task Group 55 . 1 ( TG - 55 . 1 ) with CDS - 50 as the task group commander . In mid - April , the Constellation Battle Group left the NAG and CDS - 50 became the staff commanding TF - 55 for the remainder of OIF major combat operations . In the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad in April 2003 , the very large force of ships was quickly drawn down . On 3 January 2012 , following the end of the ten - day Velayat 90 naval maneuvers by the Iranian Navy in the Strait of Hormuz , the Iranian Army chief of staff , General Ataollah Salehi , was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as warning the United States to not deploy the " Stennis " back to the Persian Gulf . On 4 January 2011 , Fars News Agency reported that a bill was being prepared for the Iranian Parliament to bar foreign naval vessels from entering the Persian Gulf unless they receive permission from the Iranian navy , with Iranian lawmaker Nader Qazipour noting : " If the military vessels and warships of any country want to pass via the Strait of Hormuz without coordination and permission of Iran ’ s navy forces , they should be stopped by the Iranian armed forces . " Also , Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi reiterated that " transnational forces " have no place in the Persian Gulf region . On 6 January 2012 , armed Iranian speedboats reportedly harassed two U . S . naval vessels , the amphibious transport dock and the Coast Guard cutter , as they transited the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf . On 9 January 2012 , Carrier Strike Group One , led by the carrier , joined Carrier Strike Group Three in the North Arabian Sea , with Carrier Strike Group Nine , led by the carrier , en route to the Arabian Sea amid rising tension between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran over U . S . naval access to the Strait of Hormuz . On 19 January 2012 , Carrier Strike Group Nine entered the U . S . Fifth Fleet ' s area of responsibility and relieved Carrier Strike Group Three . Also on that date , Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaee reportedly stated in a recent interview on the " Charlie Rose " program that Iran would consider closing the Strait of Hormuz if Iran ’ s security was endangered . For December 2012 and January 2013 , Carrier Strike Group Three was the only carrier strike group operating with the U . S . Fifth Fleet until relieved by the Carrier Strike Group Ten . This is because of the temporary two - month rotation of the Carrier Strike Group Eight back to the United States in order to resurface the flight deck of that group ' s flagship , the carrier . " Eisenhower " , Carrier Air Wing Seven , and the guided - missile cruiser returned to base on 19 December 2012 , and the guided missile destroyers , , and were slated to return to base in March 2013 . Composition . Coalition Forces Maritime Component Command . Together with Naval Forces Central Command , Fifth Fleet oversees five naval task forces monitoring maritime activity :