Pentagon Restores Pacific Command Name, Reversing 2018 ‘Indo-Pacific’ Rebrand

The 2018 name change was intended to reflect the growing importance of India and the Indian Ocean for U.S. military strategy.

The Pentagon logo behind the podium in the briefing room at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va., on Jan. 8, 2020. Al Drago/Reuters

The Pentagon said on June 16 it was restoring the name U.S. Pacific Command, reversing a 2018 decision that rebranded the command as U.S. Indo-Pacific Command to reflect the growing strategic importance of India and the Indian Ocean in U.S. defense policy.

The Department of War said in a statement that the command, known as U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) since 2018, would officially revert to its previous designation, U.S. Pacific Command, or USPACOM, a name it carried for more than seven decades before the change.