United States Naval Forces Central Command United States Naval Forces Central Command ( NAVCENT ) is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command ( USCENTCOM ) . Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea , Gulf of Oman , Persian Gulf , and Arabian Sea . It consists of the United States Fifth Fleet and several other subordinate task forces , including Combined Task Force 150 , Combined Task Force 158 and others . Navy Persian Gulf operations 1945 - 71 . The Navy ' s post - World War II operations in the Persian Gulf began in 1948 when a series of U . S . task groups , led by the , the , and Task Force 128 led by the visited the Persian Gulf . On 20 January 1948 , Commander - in - Chief , Northeastern Atlantic and Mediterranean , Admiral Conolly , created Task Force 126 to supervise the large number of Navy fleet oilers and chartered tankers picking up oil in the Persian Gulf . By June 1949 , the Task Force had become Persian Gulf Forces and on 16 August 1949 Persian Gulf Forces became Middle East Force . In October 1948 , Hydrographic Survey Group 1 arrived to help map the Persian Gulf ' s waters . Consisting of , , USS " John Blish " , and USS " Littlehales " , the Group remained in the Persian Gulf until April 1949 , but their efforts were limited by weather , logistics support and upkeep . In 1971 , when Bahrain achieved full independence , the U . S . Navy leased part of the former British base HMS " Juffair " , originally established in 1935 . It was renamed it Administrative Support Unit , Bahrain . The name was changed to Naval Support Activity , Bahrain in 1999 , to reflect its broader support role . Naval Forces Central Command from 1983 . The command was established on 1 January 1983 along with the rest of U . S . Central Command , and command of NAVCENT was initially given to a flag officer selectee based at Pearl Harbor and tasked with coordinating administrative and logistical support for U . S . naval forces in the Persian Gulf . Rear Admiral ( lower half ) Stan Arthur , the first ComUSNAVCENT , served simultaneously as the Commander - in - Chief , Pacific Fleet , Plans Officer during his first year in the position . An actual flag officer deployed to the region known as Commander , Middle East Force ( COMMIDEASTFOR ) , retained operational control of U . S . naval forces in the Persian Gulf and effectively served as USCENTCOM ' s " de facto " naval component commander . Following the initial establishment of U . S . Central Command , the boundary between USCENTCOM and U . S . Pacific Command ( USPACOM ) was the Strait of Hormuz . To direct forces of multiple services operating over the boundary , Joint Task Force Middle East was established on 20 September 1987 . It was soon obvious that JTF - ME and the Middle East Force were directing much the same operations , and a single dual - hatted naval commander , Commander , Middle Eastern Force ( COMMIDEASTFOR ) , was appointed by February 1988 . U . S . Naval Forces Central Command took part in Operation Earnest Will in 1986 - 1987 and supported Army special operations helicopters conducting Operation Prime Chance . Operation Praying Mantis followed later . In August 1990 , Captain Robert Sutton USN , who had been selected for promotion to Rear Admiral ( lower half ) , was serving as ComUSNAVCENT . The first Central Command operations order for Desert Shield , issued on 10 August 1990 , reflected the Pearl Harbour / MIDEASTFOR split and split the tasks between the two organisations , but , ' most likely , ' Pokrant writes , ' Schwarzkopf had already decided to do things differently . ' As Pokrant recounts , in a meeting on 6 August 1990 , the Central Command plans chief , Rear Admiral Grant Sharp , had advised Schwarzkopf to have a [ numbered ] fleet commander assigned to CENTCOM to control the extensive naval forces that would deploy . Schwarzkopf discussed the issue with Commander - in - Chief , Pacific Command , Admiral Huntington Hardisty . It was agreed that the Commander , U . S . Seventh Fleet ( COMSEVENTHFLT ) staff , under Vice Admiral Hank Mauz , would be despatched to command in the Middle East and , tentatively , the Commander , U . S . Third Fleet staff would be earmarked to replace them in six months . Mauz , his staff , and his flagship , , were all located at Yokosuka , Japan , their normal homeport . To speed the process of taking over command , Mauz obtained permission from Hardisty to fly immediately to Diego Garcia aboard a VIP - configured P - 3 Orion , ' Peter Rabbit , ' with key members of his staff . The rest of the command group would steam to the Persian Gulf aboard " Blue Ridge . " When Mauz was cleared to proceed from Diego Garcia to Bahrain , he expected to land and have some days to familiarise himself with the situation before taking over command of NAVCENT from Rear Admiral Fogerty . However , on landing he found a message from Schwarzkopf ordering him to assume command immediately . From 1 January 1991 , the six carriers deployed were divided into Battle Force Yankee ( two carriers , including " Saratoga , " in the Red Sea under Rear Admiral Riley Mixson , Commander , Carrier Group Two ) and Task Force 154 , Battle Force Zulu ( four carriers in the AS / PG under Rear Admiral Daniel P . March , Commander , Carrier Group Five ) . TF 150 was Vice Admiral Henry H . Mauz , Jr . himself , TF 151 the Middle East Force , TG 150 . 3 Naval Logistics Suppoert Force ( Rear Admiral Bob Sutton ) , and TF 156 the amphibious force . Since ComUSNAVCENT operated from onboard ship , he established NAVCENT - Riyadh as a staff organization to provide continuous Navy representation at CENTCOM headquarters . This mission was assigned initially to Commander , Carrier Group Three ( COMCARGRU 3 ) . During succeeding months , the NAVCENT - Riyadh staff was augmented substantially but remained small , relative to the ARCENT and CENTAF staffs . In November , the NAVCENT - Riyadh command was transferred from COMCARGRU 3 to Commander , Cruiser Destroyer Group 5 . This change resulted in the Navy flag officer at NAVCENT Riyadh ' s remaining relatively junior to other Service representatives , particularly CENTAF . This imbalance in size and seniority between the Navy and other staffs , coupled with the geographic separation with NAVCENT headquarters , made it difficult for NAVCENT - Riyadh to represent the interests of the Navy in the overall coordination and planning efforts . On 24 April 1991 , Vice Admiral Arthur turned over command of NAVCENT to Rear Admiral Ray Taylor , Fogerty ' s replacement as Commander , Middle East Force , and Arthur and " Blue Ridge " began their voyage back to the Pacific . Two months earlier , Rear Admiral Taylor had submitted thoughts on the reorientation of the NAVCENT command structure to Schwarzkopf following an earlier direction from Admiral Arthur . The proposal , which was modified in the staffing process , eventually meant that the one - staff ComUSNAVCENT in Hawaii was upgraded to a two - star appointment co - located with Central Command headquarters in Tampa , Florida . Rear Admiral David Rogers became the first two - star Navy representative in Tampa when he relieved Rear Admiral Sutton . Although COMSEVENTHFLT held command responsibility during this period , no numbered fleet existed permanently within the USCENTCOM area of responsibility during the first Gulf War and for the next four years thereafter . By July 1995 , a new numbered fleet was deemed necessary by the senior U . S . Navy leadership , and after a 48 - year hiatus , the U . S . Fifth Fleet was reactivated , replacing COMMIDEASTFOR . Dual - hatted as COMUSNAVCENT as the naval component command of USCENTCOM , the same Vice Admiral ( and his staff ) as Commander , U . S . Fifth Fleet ( COMFIFTHFLT ) now directs naval operations in the Persian Gulf , Red Sea , and the Arabian Sea . The combined COMUSNAVCENT / COMFIFTHFLT headquarters is located at NSA Bahrain in Manama , Bahrain . The command oversees both afloat and shore - based units that rotationally deploy or surge from the United States , plus a few smaller surface ships that are based in the Gulf for longer periods . Ships rotationally deploy to the U . S . Fifth Fleet from the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets . Combined Maritime Forces . In February 2002 the Combined Maritime Forces was also established as an embedded activity to provide coordinated Coalition operations in the area of operations . It is an international naval partnership that provides security for civilian maritime traffic by conducting counter - piracy and counter - terrorism missions in the heavily - trafficked waters of the Middle East , Africa and South Asia , including the Red Sea , the Persian Gulf , the Gulf of Aden , Arabian Sea and the wider Indian Ocean . CMF ' s personnel and ships are drawn from 26 nations and are organized into three principal task forces : After the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States , Commander , Task Force 150 , previously a single - nation U . S . formation , was made into a multinational effort as Combined Task Force 150 ( HOA MIO Force ) , and was given a renewed focus on maritime security and counter - terrorism . It was established on February 3 , 2002 , by Vice Admiral Charles W . Moore . Over time , it became increasingly involved in combating the rising incidence of piracy in Somalia . Combined Task Force 151 was established in January 2009 by Vice Admiral William E . Gortney specifically to address counter - piracy operations . Operating alongside CTF 151 and Operation Ocean Shield are other national deployments such as the People ' s Liberation Army Navy , most recently with CTF 526 aboard the Type 054 frigate " Wenzhou . "