Serving the NATO, Naples and Gaeta Military Community in Italy
60th year, No. 31
Friday, August 7, 2015
US Congressional Delegation Visits JFC Naples Mission Story and photo by Allied Joint Force Command Naples Public Affairs
Members of the United States Congress visited Allied Joint Force Command Naples during a training activation of the Joint Operations Center (JOC), Aug. 1, 2015. House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, and five representatives were welcomed by the Commander of Joint Force Command Naples; Adm. Mark Ferguson and shown the capabilities of one of NATO's headquarters.
Members of the United States Congress visited Allied Joint Force Command Naples during a training activation of the Joint Operations Center (JOC), Aug. 1, 2015. The House Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi, and five other members of congress were welcomed by the Commander of Joint Force Command Naples; U.S. Navy Admiral Mark Ferguson and shown the capabilities of NATO’s southern headquarters. “Security cooperation with our NATO allies is critical as we work together to promote stability and to counter terrorism,” Pelosi said of the visit via her social media account “It is always an honor to thank our men and women in uniform whose service keeps us safe at home and abroad. We again thanked the Italian government, our strong NATO partner, for the hospitality given to our military.” The delegation witnessed the core of JFC Naples’ war fighting capability with the activation of the JOC’s full 50-member operation team. Members of the team conducted a training scenario to demonstrate the real-world response to a contingency operation. The JOC is manned 24 hours a day with continuous access to its higher headquarters and subordinate commands. In addition to witnessing the JOC activation, the US Congress members were briefed on the ongoing mission of JFC Naples and its current activities in support of NATO operations.
JFC Naples Takes Lessons From Past Battlegrounds Story by Allied Joint Force Command Naples Public Affairs
Amid the picturesque mountains of Southern Italy lies one of the historic battlegrounds of World War II. The Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944 is remembered as one of the most complex and challenging of clashes between the allied powers and the German military in Italy. For key members of NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command
Naples headquarters who traveled to Monte Cassino July 28, 2015, the historical site proved to be a substantive lesson on cooperation, strategies and tactics. “There are a lot of lessons to be learned of the mistakes in the past,” Germany Navy Commander Nils Gallagher, JFC Naples staff officer, said. MONTE CASSINO Page 7
Sailors assigned to the Naval Support Activity Fire Department cut a car windshield for a car extrication demonstration during the National Night Out event at the Support Site field near the skate park. National Night Out is a communitypolicing event designed to foster community relationships and promote safety awareness. Photo by MC2 Justin Stumberg
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PANORAMA will be bAck fROM vAcAtiON August 28
Beginning in January 2016, the Navy will loosen body weight standards in physical fitness tests. Photo by MC3 Paolo Bayas
Navy to Loosen Body Weight Standards in Fitness Tests By Steven Beardsley Stars and Stripes
The Navy will relax the body weight standards in its physical fitness assessment beginning next year, as it moves away from what service leaders say is too narrow a gauge of health and physical ability. New rules, which were announced Monday and set to take effect in January will result in more Sailors’ passing the body composition portion of the physical fitness assessment, or PFA, and participating in the exercise portion of the assessment, Navy officials said. Current rules prohibit anyone who fails the body composition portion from moving on to the exercise test. The new rules add a single-step abdominal measurement for those who don’t meet the Navy’s maximum weight allowances by height, and they raise body fat limits to a maximum 26 percent for men and 35 percent for women, following Department of Defense standards. They also reduce the number of permitted failures to two in three years from three in four. Navy officials said the changes are the first step in the Navy’s move away from an emphasis on body size and toward strengthening the exercise test, known as the physical readiness test, or PRT. “I want them taking PRTs,” Chief of Naval Personnel Vice Adm. Bill Moran said of the changes in a video released by the Navy. “I want them testing. I want them physically FITNESS TESTS Page 7