Archie Ray Clemins (November 18, 1943 – March 14, 2020) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

four star admiral who served as Commander in Chief,

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

(CINCPACFLT) from 1996 to 1999.

Military career

Clemins was born in

Mount Vernon, Illinois Mount Vernon is a city in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon, Illinois micropolitan area, which includes all of ...

on November 18, 1943, and graduated from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. He was commissioned upon graduation and entered the Naval Nuclear Power program, serving aboard ballistic missile submarines. He returned to the University of Illinois for a master's degree. 2002 Distinguished Sea Service Award Honoree biography Before being promoted to flag rank in 1991, Clemins commanded the USS Pogy (SSN-647). As an admiral he commanded Pacific Fleet Training Command in San Diego, California, and the

Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...

Yokosuka is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...

, Japan. His final assignment was Commander in Chief of the

. He retired from active duty on December 1, 1999, and settled with his wife, Marilyn, in

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

Awards and honors

Post military career

After retiring from the navy, he established Caribou Technologies, Inc., and became co-owner of TableRock International LLC, both consulting firms for technology and business development. He was the 2002 recipient of the

Naval Order of the United States The Naval Order of the United States was established in 1890 as a hereditary organization in the United States for members of the American sea services. Its primary mission is to encourage research and writing on naval and maritime subjects and p ...

Distinguished Sea Service Award. Clemins recommended Australia as a location for new military testing sites to be used by both the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

and the US military as a result of disappearing sites in America. Speaking to The West Australian, he stated "You have to have places to drop bombs, you have to have places to shoot live weapons, places to fly planes over that make noise, places where you can actually test and exercise your capabilities. I think Australia in the future is going to be one of the places we'd like to exercise with the Australians, as well as with the US Navy. You now have some of the finest ranges in the Western Pacific which we cannot get anywhere else." Later the US military would indeed use Australia as a military exercising camp in the form of Exercise Talisman Sabre, which is held every 2 years since 2001 in about July. He died at his home in Boise, Idaho, on March 14, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemins, Archie 1943 births 2020 deaths United States Navy admirals Grainger College of Engineering alumni People from Mount Vernon, Illinois Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Military personnel from Illinois

Military career

Awards and honors

Post military career

See also

References