Thomas Ross Cooley was a decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral. A veteran of two world wars, he distinguished himself as commanding officer of battleship USS Washington during Mariana Islands campaign and later as Commander, Battleship Division Six during the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

The U.S. Fourth Fleet is a United States Navy numbered fleet. It is the Naval Component Command of U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). The Fourth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida. It is responsible for U.S. Navy ships, aircraft and submarines operating in the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans around Central and South America.