TOKYO -- Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, the first female fleet commander in the history of the U.S. Navy, is responsible for the 115 vessels and 60,000 sailors that make up the powerful Third Fleet. Although the fleet's area of responsibility lies in the eastern Pacific -- an area extending from the international date line near Hawaii to the U.S. West Coast -- Tyson said she is ready to deploy her ships to the tension-prone western Pacific to assist the Seventh Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan.
"Our boss, Adm. (Scott) Swift (commander of the Pacific Fleet), would like to blur the international date line and ensure that the Third Fleet and Seventh Fleet can work seamlessly together," Tyson said in an exclusive interview during her visit to Japan on Monday.