WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Robert F. Willard on Monday assumed control of the U.S. Pacific Command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, succeeding Timothy Keating.

    "This half of the world (the Asia Pacific region) has undergone immense evolution in just my 36 years of military service. And it's changing still," Willard told audience at a change-of-command ceremony on a hill overlooking Pearl Harbor, according to the Pentagon website.

    "Yet constant throughout that time was a recognition of the vast and growing importance of Asia to the rest of the world," he said.

    Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Michael Mullen, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, attended the ceremony.

    Willard has spent the last two years in Pearl Harbor leading the U.S. Pacific Fleet. He has also served as the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.

    During the 1980s, the F-14 fighter jet aviator was the operations and executive officer of the Navy Fighter Weapons School featured in the Hollywood movie "Top Gun."

    The Pacific Command covers an area stretching from Hawaii and Alaska to India.

    As its new commander, Willard will oversee about 325,000 military and civilian personnel.