Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel was appointed the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (CINCUS) and the Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) on 1 February 1941, carrying the temporary rank of admiral starting on that date. Kimmel was relieved as the CINCUS / CINCPAC on 17 December 1941, shortly after the devastating Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On the following day, by of 18 December 1941, the position of Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) was redefined, and given operational command over the Atlantic, Pacific, and Asiatic Fleets, as well as all naval coastal forces. The acronym change from CINCUS to COMINCH was suggested by Admiral Ernest J. King, who feared that the pronunciation of the post would be demoralizing in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack. On 20 December, Admiral Ernest J. King was assigned as the COMINCH. One important difference from the previous post of CINCUS was that Admiral King insisted that his headquarters would always be in Washington, D.C., rather than with the Fleet. Dividing command of the Navy between the COMINCH, Admiral King, and the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Harold R. Stark, did not prove to be very effective. President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed this problem with his of 12 March 1942, which designated that the offices of the CNO and COMINCH would be held by a single officer, and Admiral King was selected to be CNO in addition to being COMINCH. King relieved Stark as CNO on 29 March 1942, and wore both of these "hats" for the remainder of the war. Abolition After the war, the position of Commander in Chief, United States Fleet was no longer needed. Thus, on September 29, 1945, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9635, which revoked both EO 8984 & EO 9096 and transferred all the responsibilities of the COMINCH to the CNO. Since that time, the CNO has nearly always been the highest-ranking U.S. Navy officer. Following passage of the National Security Act of 1947, the CNO is by law the highest-ranking naval officer on active duty, except when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (a position created by the 1949 amendments of the National Security Act) and/or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (a position created by the Goldwater-Nichols Act in 1986) is also a U.S. Navy officer. Leadership Commanders of the United