Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR)
Commander in Chief Allied Forces, Southern Europe (AFSOUTH)
The Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR) plans, conducts, and supports, when directed, naval operations in the European theater and Middle East area during peacetime, contingencies, and general war to perform tasks assigned by the Commander in Chief, U.S. European Command.
Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe (CINCUSNAVEUR), operates under two separate operational and administrative chains of command. As the operational Commander in Chief of all U.S. naval forces in Europe, CINCUSNAVEUR is the component Commander of the U. S. Commander in Chief, Europe (USCINCEUR). CINCUSNAVEUR is also the administrative commander in the Department of the Navy chain of command directly responsible to the Chief of Naval Operations for management, logistics and communications support of U.S. Navy assets in Europe. While not a NATO command, CINCUSNAVEUR is responsible for insuring ready forces are available for NATO if the need arises and for logistics support of U.S. Navy ships and aircraft whether they are nationally or NATO assigned. CINCUSNAVEUR also works with NATO commands and member governments in planning, operating and funding NATO facilities used by the U.S. Navy.
Navy Region Europe is comprised of: Naval Station Rota, Spain; Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy; Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily; Naval Support Activity Gaeta, Italy; Naval Support Activity La Maddalena, Sardinia; and Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Crete. The forward-deployed submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) is homeported in La Maddalena, Sardinia. Helicopter Support Squadron Four is based at NAS Sigonella, Sicily and the Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two is stationed in Rota, Spain.
Although CINCUSNAVEUR forces are primarily concentrated in the Mediterranean, the CINCUSNAVEUR area of responsibility extends from the North Cape in Norway to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and includes the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black Seas, as well as the Mediterranean. Navy and Marine Corps personnel are positioned throughout the Mediterranean, Europe and the United Kingdom. These are either forward deployed on the more than twenty deployed ships, deployed squadrons or stationed on one of the seven bases in the CINCUSNAVEUR area of responsibility. 10,000 Forward Based Sailors and Marines are stationed on bases through-out the AOR. 12,000 Forward Deployed Sailors and Marines are aboard deployed ships and squadrons in the AOR.
Since April 1942, with the arrival of Admiral Harold R. Stark, the U.S. Navy has had a presence in Europe with its headquarters building on Grosvenor Square in London. The building was also briefly the headquarters of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, early in World War II. The command's name has changed during the past fifty years, but its mission has not -- coordination and leadership of naval forces throughout Europe and Western Africa. The headquarters continues to house the Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, and his staff.
Allied Forces Southern Europe [AFSOUTH] is one of the two Regional Commands of NATO’s Allied Command Europe (ACE). The Commander-in-Chief of AFSOUTH (CINCSOUTH) is a four-star U.S. Navy admiral. As part of an overall internal adaptation of NATO's military structure, the organization of HQ AFSOUTH was significantly modified on 1 September 1999, when the current structure was adopted. AFSOUTH’s AOR includes: Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. It also includes: the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, the whole of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic approaches to the Strait of Gibraltar, east of longitude 7º 23’ 48" W, and an area around the Canary Islands and its associated airspace.
CINCSOUTH has delegated command and control of forces that are or could be allocated to NATO in the Southern Region to a number of Principal Subordinate Commands (PSCs). AFSOUTH exercises direct command and control of Striking Forces Southern Europe (STRIKFORSOUTH), which constitutes a permanent regional Reaction Force HQ in Naples, Italy. Allied Naval Forces South (NAVSOUTH), Naples, Italy, exercises operational control of the NATO Maritime Immediate Reaction Forces (IRFs’) – STANAVFORMED and MCMFORMED - and other assigned maritime forces in the AOR and is responsible for their readiness and training. NAVSOUTH is also responsible for the preparation of maritime aspects of plans and the conduct of maritime exercises.
The United States Naval Forces Europe Area of Responsibility (AOR) encompasses 89 countries with a combined population of over one billion people. Its landmass spreads across nearly 14 million square miles and touches 3 continents, while its maritime areas cover the Mediterranean, Black and Baltic Seas. Effective 01 October 2000, the maritime area will expand to include several million square miles in the Atlantic Ocean. For planning purposes, USNAVEUR has divided the AOR into six maritime regions: Black Sea; Levant / East Med; Maghreb & North Africa; Northern Europe & Baltic; Northern Mediterranean; and Sub-Saharan Africa. These are grouped to accommodate the maritime characteristics of these countries and their surrounding waters.
