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Striking Fleet Atlantic Celebrates 50 Years

Navy Newsstand

Release Date: 11/28/2002

By Second Fleet Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va (NNS) -- The Striking Fleet Atlantic staff opened a new chapter in their history Nov. 27, when they commemorated the command's first half-century in a ceremony aboard USS Bataan (LHD 5).

Vice Adm. Cutler Dawson, Commander of NATO's Striking Fleet Atlantic (CSFL) and Commander of the U.S. Navy's Second Fleet, welcomed guest speaker Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, Adm. Ian Forbes, Royal Navy, along with staff, family members and friends to the shipboard ceremony.

Dawson highlighted his remarks with snippets of Striking Fleet Atlantic history, and how the command has evolved into NATO's primary maritime striking force in the Atlantic, along with the vision for the future of this organization.

Bataan helps write that history now as it joins a long list of prior flagships for Striking Fleet Atlantic that includes the battleship USS New Jersey (BB 62), cruisers USS Newport News (CA 148) and USS Albany (CG 10), followed most recently by the joint command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (JCC 20).

"As you review the history of Striking Fleet Atlantic, the progress this organization has made in just 50 short years is remarkable," said Dawson. "I believe the key to this success has been the ability and willingness of the organization to change and adapt over time in order to remain relevant within the context of changing global requirements."

With World War II recovery efforts in full swing and the signing of the NATO charter as a backdrop, January 1952 brought the establishment of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT), and with it, Striking Fleet Atlantic.

In its early days, only two NATO officers were on the staff. While today, there are 31 personnel from 11 NATO countries on the CSFL team. Dawson explained, "For much of the next 40 years, NATO's Atlantic Command was engaged in the preservation of maritime dominance against a formidable adversary in the Soviet navy and members of the Warsaw Pact.

"Striking Fleet's major thrust consisted of anti-submarine warfare and multiple carriers to the northern flank in Norway. Then in 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall signaled a new world order and a new role for CSFL. With the help and leadership of SACLANT, CSFL embarked upon a radical transformation from a Cold War open ocean maritime power projection force . to a new role as a combined joint task force headquarters afloat."

Hard work and diligence are paying off, as CSFL leads the way in helping stay abreast of change in order to address and engage new threats and situations the alliance faces.

"The challenge is clear," Dawson summarized, quoting NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson, who declared: "We need forces that can move fast, adjust quickly to changing requirements, engage effectively, and then stay in the field as long as it takes to get the job done.'"

"That is why CSFL's role as NATO's only sea-based combined joint task force headquarters makes Striking Fleet Atlantic 'The Fighting Headquarters of Choice' for crisis response. We are ready now," said Dawson.

Looking back on 50 years of Striking Fleet Atlantic history foretells that the next 50 years will have CSFL playing an integral part in NATO's future structure and will remain one of their most efficient and flexible tools.