pacific forum History of Pacific Forum

Robert P. Girrier

Robert GIRRIER (RADM USN Ret.) is former President of the Pacific Forum. He currently sits as member of the Forum’s Board of Directors.

A naval leader with over thirty years’ maritime experience and extensive operations throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific, Europe and Middle East, he commanded two carrier strike groups, a destroyer squadron, destroyer, and a mine countermeasures ship. His operational assignments culminated as Deputy Commander Pacific Fleet and as the Director of Operations for U.S. Pacific Command. Efforts focused on directing theater-wide operations and day-to-day engagement; building high-level allied and partner relationships & capacity; developing strategy, planning for contingencies and executing crisis response. He led the stand-up of the Navy Staff’s first-ever office of Unmanned Warfare Systems. In that position he built organizational momentum and made value case for unmanned & manned systems working in collaboration – and more capably – across increasingly connected environments.