2 New Messages
Digest #4783
1
Souda Bay, Greece: Forward Base For U.S.-NATO Operations by "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
2
U.S. Air Force: Global Vigilance, Global Reach, Global Power For Ame by "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
Messages
Fri Aug 23, 2013 6:15 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.stripes.
Stars and Stripes
August 21, 20013
Strategic since antiquity, Souda Bay outpost is key to Navy’s supply chain
By Steven Beardsley
SOUDA BAY, Crete: ...Souda Bay, a joint Greek-U.S. base where...the mission largely unchanged over the decades. The installation is a forward operating site for U.S. and allied operations around the Mediterranean, a remote base that offers a deep-water harbor for resupply and maintenance near Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Recent military operations have underlined Souda’s significance in the Mediterranean — and shown how larger strategic movements depend on the low-key activities of small, isolated outposts.
“It comes in spurts, depending on what’s happening in the world, pretty much,” Petty Officer 2nd Class Armando Calvillo, a boatswain’s mate, said of activity on the base. “Especially on my side. If something is popping off in the world somewhere, of course we’re going to get a lot of ships coming in to resupply, a lot of amphibious ships.”
Set on 110 acres inside a Hellenic Air Force base in western Crete, Naval Support Activity Souda Bay counts 1,100 personnel, of whom roughly a third each are military, civilian and local nationals, according to its executive officer, Cmdr. Demetries Grimes...
The U.S. presence formally began in 1969 as a detachment before moving to a full land presence in 1980. An airfield within the base and a NATO pier facility at the harbor below, which is run by the Hellenic Navy, currently feed Souda’s daily activity.
The Venetians, Ottomans and Germans have all prized the bay, which is roughly nine miles long, between one and two miles wide and shielded by mountains on both sides. It offers three anchorages, the deepest running between 390 to 490 feet and capable of anchoring an aircraft carrier.
“We’re the only pier in the Mediterranean where we can put a carrier pier-side,” Grimes said. “And the same thing with submarines.”
Such flexibility, combined with its location, has made Souda an international stop in the Mediterranean. European vessels traveling to and from Africa for anti-piracy operations pull in to refuel and resupply. U.S. supply ships stop for security teams to board before they enter pirate-infested waters. Carrier strike groups operating in the area bring destroyers or cruisers to pier, and occasionally a flattop — a carrier — itself will anchor in the harbor.
Souda Bay averages several hundred ship visits a year and more than 75,000 personnel coming through the harbor alone, Grimes said. Aircraft sorties and detachments add another 30,000 to 40,000, he said.
The recent increase in deployment time for U.S. warships — from an average of seven months to nine — is translating to more visits from resupply ships. Ballistic missile defense patrols make regular stops at the harbor, as well. The Navy’s planned forward deployment of four Aegis ballistic missile destroyers in Rota, Spain, should also mean more traffic for the small installation, he said.
“I would expect that as we have more ships that are forward deployed, we’re going to have more frequent visits of vessels coming in,” he said.
Last year’s attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, brought another change to Souda Bay, when a Marine anti-terrorism detachment was stationed on site as a quick-response measure for the region.
...
============
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============
Stars and Stripes
August 21, 20013
Strategic since antiquity, Souda Bay outpost is key to Navy’s supply chain
By Steven Beardsley
SOUDA BAY, Crete: ...Souda Bay, a joint Greek-U.S. base where...the mission largely unchanged over the decades. The installation is a forward operating site for U.S. and allied operations around the Mediterranean, a remote base that offers a deep-water harbor for resupply and maintenance near Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Recent military operations have underlined Souda’s significance in the Mediterranean — and shown how larger strategic movements depend on the low-key activities of small, isolated outposts.
“It comes in spurts, depending on what’s happening in the world, pretty much,” Petty Officer 2nd Class Armando Calvillo, a boatswain’s mate, said of activity on the base. “Especially on my side. If something is popping off in the world somewhere, of course we’re going to get a lot of ships coming in to resupply, a lot of amphibious ships.”
Set on 110 acres inside a Hellenic Air Force base in western Crete, Naval Support Activity Souda Bay counts 1,100 personnel, of whom roughly a third each are military, civilian and local nationals, according to its executive officer, Cmdr. Demetries Grimes...
The U.S. presence formally began in 1969 as a detachment before moving to a full land presence in 1980. An airfield within the base and a NATO pier facility at the harbor below, which is run by the Hellenic Navy, currently feed Souda’s daily activity.
The Venetians, Ottomans and Germans have all prized the bay, which is roughly nine miles long, between one and two miles wide and shielded by mountains on both sides. It offers three anchorages, the deepest running between 390 to 490 feet and capable of anchoring an aircraft carrier.
“We’re the only pier in the Mediterranean where we can put a carrier pier-side,” Grimes said. “And the same thing with submarines.”
Such flexibility, combined with its location, has made Souda an international stop in the Mediterranean. European vessels traveling to and from Africa for anti-piracy operations pull in to refuel and resupply. U.S. supply ships stop for security teams to board before they enter pirate-infested waters. Carrier strike groups operating in the area bring destroyers or cruisers to pier, and occasionally a flattop — a carrier — itself will anchor in the harbor.
Souda Bay averages several hundred ship visits a year and more than 75,000 personnel coming through the harbor alone, Grimes said. Aircraft sorties and detachments add another 30,000 to 40,000, he said.
The recent increase in deployment time for U.S. warships — from an average of seven months to nine — is translating to more visits from resupply ships. Ballistic missile defense patrols make regular stops at the harbor, as well. The Navy’s planned forward deployment of four Aegis ballistic missile destroyers in Rota, Spain, should also mean more traffic for the small installation, he said.
“I would expect that as we have more ships that are forward deployed, we’re going to have more frequent visits of vessels coming in,” he said.
Last year’s attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, brought another change to Souda Bay, when a Marine anti-terrorism detachment was stationed on site as a quick-response measure for the region.
...
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Fri Aug 23, 2013 6:15 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.usafe.
U.S. Air Forces in Europe
August 23, 2013
AF leaders cite Airmen as bedrock in new core mission document
Air Force Press Services
WASHINGTON: The Air Force released a new document explaining how the service provides airpower for America - titled "Global Vigilance, Global Reach, Global Power for America."
The paper follows the January release of the Air Force's Vision, "World&#
Building upon the vision, this paper explores the Air Force's five enduring core missions -- air and space superiority; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; rapid global mobility; global strike; and command and control -- and explains how innovative Airmen bring them together to provide Global Vigilance, Global Reach and Global Power for America.
"You'
Welsh introduces the document and emphasizes that the core missions of the Air Force have not changed since 1947, but what has changed is how the Air Force performs these missions.
"We now fly faster, farther, and higher than ever before using aircraft and spacecraft that no one could have imagined at the time of our Service'
But the effectiveness of these core missions comes directly from the power of Airmen.
"You do them better than anybody in the history of warfare," Welsh said. "Thank you for who you are, thank you for what you do, and thank you for how well you do it."
Welsh ends his message with a call to Airmen to find themselves in the text, "This document is intended to tell you about what your Air Force does, but more importantly it's "intended to let you see where you fit in it -- an incredibly critical role that you play."
U.S. Air Forces in Europe
August 23, 2013
AF leaders cite Airmen as bedrock in new core mission document
Air Force Press Services
WASHINGTON: The Air Force released a new document explaining how the service provides airpower for America - titled "Global Vigilance, Global Reach, Global Power for America."
The paper follows the January release of the Air Force's Vision, "World&#
Building upon the vision, this paper explores the Air Force's five enduring core missions -- air and space superiority; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; rapid global mobility; global strike; and command and control -- and explains how innovative Airmen bring them together to provide Global Vigilance, Global Reach and Global Power for America.
"You'
Welsh introduces the document and emphasizes that the core missions of the Air Force have not changed since 1947, but what has changed is how the Air Force performs these missions.
"We now fly faster, farther, and higher than ever before using aircraft and spacecraft that no one could have imagined at the time of our Service'
But the effectiveness of these core missions comes directly from the power of Airmen.
"You do them better than anybody in the history of warfare," Welsh said. "Thank you for who you are, thank you for what you do, and thank you for how well you do it."
Welsh ends his message with a call to Airmen to find themselves in the text, "This document is intended to tell you about what your Air Force does, but more importantly it's "intended to let you see where you fit in it -- an incredibly critical role that you play."