Harris was nominated on September 22, 2014, by President Barack Obama to command the US Pacific Command.
His appointment was confirmed by the Senate on December 11, 2014.

Harris took command of USPACOM on May 27, 2015.
He regarded North Korea as the biggest threat to security in Asia, calling for diplomacy backed by military power to "bring Kim Jong-Un to his senses; not to his knees" in pursuit of peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

In December 2016, Harris led the military commemoration activities for the 75th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Oahu.
On 5 December, he paid tribute to Japanese-Americans who served in World War II.
He delivered the keynote speech during National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 7 December, and accompanied President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe to render honors at the USS Arizona Memorial on 27 December.
The visit – the first by a Japanese Prime Minister to the Memorial – was hailed by President Obama as "a historic gesture of reconciliation."
Harris was nominated on September 22, 2014, by President Barack Obama to command the US Pacific Command. His appointment was confirmed by the Senate on December 11, 2014.
Harris took command of USPACOM on May 27, 2015. He regarded North Korea as the biggest threat to security in Asia, calling for diplomacy backed by military power to "bring Kim Jong-Un to his senses; not to his knees" in pursuit of peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
In December 2016, Harris led the military commemoration activities for the 75th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Oahu. On 5 December, he paid tribute to Japanese-Americans who served in World War II. He delivered the keynote speech during National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 7 December, and accompanied President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe to render honors at the USS Arizona Memorial on 27 December. The visit – the first by a Japanese Prime Minister to the Memorial – was hailed by President Obama as "a historic gesture of reconciliation."
Harry B. Harris Jr.