Spotlight on Admiral Samuel J Paparo, the key military chief at the centre of the US-China conflict
With 1,100 carrier landings behind him, the commander of US Indo-Pacific forces is now navigating a different kind of front line.
If the defining contest of the 21st century is to be that between the US and China, then we would do well to learn the names of those who will be calling the shots. Since 2024, Admiral Samuel J Paparo has been the head of US Indo-Pacific Command – about 380,000 US personnel stationed in 38 countries. He is the most senior US officer charged with overseeing any future clash with China.
These are challenging times to be wearing four stars in the American military. Since Donald Trump returned to presidential office last January, the commander-in-chief has ordered US forces to take action in Nigeria, Venezuela, Iran, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Somalia – and has been making vague threats towards Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Mexico and Panama.
Given these whiplash-inducing scenarios, Paparo occupies one of the most important of all posts. As a shrewd officer, he understands that any US-China conflict won’t only be a physical war. At the Honolulu Defense Forum in January, Paparo noted that information and cyber operations have become “a salient form of warfare”. He believes that militaries have to accept the idea that information operations must be integral to everything they do, rather than a simple afterthought.
Paparo ascended through the army ranks, which helps in his efforts to convince the old guard about new methods. He was a naval aviator, graduating from the US Navy’s strike fighter tactics instructor programme. He has flown F-14s, F-15s and F/A-18s, and made 1,100 carrier landings. He has also undertaken less lofty missions, including leading a provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan.
More recently, he has served as commander of the US Fifth Fleet, which generally conducts the US Navy’s operations in the Middle East, and of the US Pacific Fleet. Admiral Paparo wouldn’t be the one deciding whether the US rode to the defence of Taiwan or engaged in combat with China for any other reason. But he would get a big say in how any war that followed was fought.
This article is from Monocle’s March issue, The Monocle 100, which features our editors’ favourite 100 figures, destinations, objects and ideas.
Read the rest of the issue here.
