Serving the NATO, Naples and Gaeta Military Community in Italy Russell Egnor Navy Media Awards – 2016 Best Newspaper in the Navy
65th year, No. 6
Friday, February 21, 2020
U.S., Spanish Service Members Complete Ice Diving Proficiency Training By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Katie Cox
U.S. service members from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 8, assigned to Navy Expeditionary Combat Force Europe-Africa/Task Force (CTF) 68, and divers from the Spanish Navy Center for Diving (Centro de Buceo de la Armada, CBA) and Military Diving School (Escuela Militar de Buceo, EMB) conducted proficiency training, Feb. 3-7 as part of annual bi-lateral altitude and ice dive training in the Pyrenees Mountains. Twenty-four explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians, Navy divers, hospital corpsmen, and Seabees from EODMU 8, stationed in Rota, Spain, and 40 Spanish divers and personnel based in Cartagena, Spain took part in the training. “This is a multi-lateral diving exercise that strengthens NATO partnerships in a cold-water altitude environment,” said Chief Navy Diver Troy Crowder, from EODMU 8. ICE DIVING
U.S. 6th Fleet Turns 70 By Vice Adm. Lisa Franchetti
Explosive ordnance disposal technicians, from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 8, assigned to Navy Expeditionary Combat Force Europe-Africa/Task Force (CTF) 68, conduct in-water safety checks as part of annual bi-lateral altitude and ice dive training in the Pyrenees Mountains with dives from the Spanish Navy Center for Diving (Centro de Buceo de la Armada, CBA). CTF 68 provides explosive ordnance operations, naval construction, expeditionary security and theater security efforts in the 6th Fleet area of responsibility. Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Katie Cox
Page 7
U.S., Taliban Negotiate 7-Day Proposal for Reduction in Violence By C. Todd Lopez
U.S. Army Capt. Bradley D. Rager, assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Armored Division, scans his sector while providing security during a battlefield circulation and key leader engagement with Afghan and Coalition senior military leaders held on an Afghan military base Feb. 1 in Southeastern Afghanistan. Photo by U.S. Army Master Sgt. Alejandro Licea
The United States and the Taliban have agreed to a proposal for a reduction in violence in Afghanistan, and the Defense Department is working with allies on the path forward, Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper said. “The best, if not only solution forward is a political agreement,” Esper said following his meeting with NATO defense ministers in Brussels today. “We have the basis for one on the table, and we are taking a hard look at it. We are consulting with our allies. TALIBAN
Page 11
CAPTAIN’S CORNER. . . . . . . . . 2 BASE NOTES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 FFSC CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SOUND OFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 MOVIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 JOBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 USO TOURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The BaTTle of iwo Jima . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 4
The GrowinG ThreaT To europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 5
WORD SEARCH / COLOR ME 14
Greetings from USS Mount Whitney, flagship of the U.S. Sixth Fleet, underway in the Mediterranean Sea! Seventy years ago, on Feb. 12, 1950, the Navy formally established Sixth Fleet, building on the storied legacy of U.S. Navy ships that have sailed on the Mediterranean Sea since the early nineteenth century. From 1801, with the dispatch of USS Constitution and her sister ships to defeat the Barbary pirates, through today, American sea power has operated throughout this strategic region, which in ancient times was viewed as the center of the world. While standing on the bridge wing looking out at the busy waters of the Med, I took a moment to reflect on the strategic environment that led the Navy to establish Sixth Fleet seventy years ago, especially in context of Great Power competition we see today. Sixth Fleet’s Command History report from 1950-1958 gives us a window into the thought process at the time: “As the war ended and the U.S. sought peace treaties and rapid disarmament, it became increasingly apparent in the Mediterranean, as elsewhere, that Russia, our wartime ally, was to become the main threat to our security and order in the world.” Although the Navy had hoped to draw down its presence at the end of World War II, our leaders quickly saw the need to keep a maritime force in these waters to protect U.S. interests, support U.S. policies, and serve as a strong southern flank to NATO forces in in Western Europe. 6TH FLEET Page 11