Atlantic Fleet (United States)

United States Fleet Forces Command (USFLTFORCOM)
The official seal of the Commander of United States Fleet Forces Command.
Active	1906–present
Allegiance	United States of America
Branch	United States Navy
Type	Force-providing command
Part of	Chief of Naval Operations
Garrison/HQ	Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Engagements	World War I World War II Vietnam War Global War on Terrorism
Commanders
Current commander	Admiral Philip S. Davidson

The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFLTFORCOM) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) under the authority of the Secretary of Defense. Originally formed as United States Atlantic Fleet (USLANTFLT) in 1906, it has been an integral part of the defense of the United States of America for most of the 20th century. In 2002, the Fleet comprised over 118,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel serving on 186 ships and in 1,300 aircraft, with an area of responsibility ranging over most of the Atlantic Ocean from the North Pole to the South Pole, the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the waters of the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Central and South America (as far west as the Galapagos Islands). The command is based at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Virginia and is the Navy's service component to U.S. Northern Command and is a supporting command under the U.S. Strategic Command.

The command's mission is to organize, man, train, and equip Naval Forces for assignment to Unified Command Combatant commanders; to deter, detect, and defend against homeland maritime threats; and to articulate Fleet warfighting and readiness requirements to the Chief of Naval Operations.

The Atlantic Fleet was established by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, at the same time as the Pacific Fleet, as protection for new bases in the Caribbean acquired as a result of the Spanish–American War. The Fleet was a combination of the North Atlantic Fleet and the South Atlantic Squadron.