Aug. 14, 2001 -- The chief of naval operations is putting the commander-in-chief of Atlantic Fleet in charge of a new organization called U.S. Fleet Forces Command, designed to coordinate and implement the requirements and policies of the Navy's non-deployed Atlantic and Pacific Fleet forces.
According to an Aug. 13 message from CNO Adm. Vern Clark obtained by Inside the Navy, the alignment changes are "the next step" in an ongoing process to give the fleet a "larger role in the Navy's program development process in Washington" and move community sponsors to the fleet.