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Southwest Asia Region Disestablished

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090205-07
Release Date: 2/5/2009 11:58:00 AM

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Stephen Murphy

U.S. NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY, Bahrain (NNS) -- Commander Navy Region Europe, (CNRE) Naples, Italy, assumed operational and administrative control of Navy Region Southwest Asia, headquartered aboard U.S. Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain as well as remote bases and installations within its area of responsibility effective Jan. 23.

With responsibilities for support to U.S. Africa Command established last October, and the disestablishment of Commander Navy Region Southwest Asia, CNRE has been renamed Commander Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia.

The realignment eliminates NSA Bahrain's regional support role, allowing the command to focus on its support to the facility and the 80 tenant commands assigned.

"Because of the small staff here in Bahrain, we had a lot of dual-hatted personnel," said Cmdr. Kyle Barrett former Commander Navy Region Southwest Asia chief of staff and recently assigned NSA Bahrain executive officer. "They were serving as both installation-level and region-level program directors. They had to split their focus. One minute they would be doing work for the installation, and the next minute they would be taking care of region-level responsibilities."

Barrett said the merger of the regions will not adversely impact NSA Bahrain's support to its tenant commands. The only noticeable difference will be the improvement in services to these commands.

"We can focus more on maintaining the base and interacting with the tenants than we could in the past," he said. "They will receive more tailored and specific support."

Barrett said because NSA Bahrain is now supported by , it now has the advantage of being led by a flag officer.

"Most regions have flag-level commanding officers," he said. "Bahrain was the only region with an O6-level CO [commanding officer]. Having a flag-level CO takes away any disadvantage Bahrain may have encountered by having a junior leader."

Barrett also noted that prior to the regional realignment; NSA Bahrain dealt directly with CNIC, but will now have the advantage of having Commander Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia (CNREURAFSWA) as an intermediary to represent the command's interests.

Barret explained the disestablishment of CNRSWA and NSA Bahrain's incorporation into CNREURAFSWA's region is a positive change that will greatly benefit personnel in Southwest Asia. Barrett anticipates an easy transition with minimal issues.

"As with any large shift in an organizational structure, there will probably be some growing pains," he said. "This will probably be between the installation program managers and the region, in Europe, as they develop this new relationship. However, this will not have a negative impact on NSA Bahrain or any of its tenant commands."

In addition to NSA Bahrain, the new region takes over former CNRSWA's facilities in Djibouti, Fujairah, and Jebel Ali, and other remote bases and facilities within Southwest Asia, adding them to CNREURAFSWA's bases in Rota, Spain; Sigonella, Sicily; and Naples.