Italy to host AFRICOM headquarters

Horn of Africa A medical professional from Combined Joint Task Force — Horn of Africa examines a child during a medical civil action program in Djibouti in November. The task force is part of U.S. Africa Command, which this week announced its Navy and Army headquarters components will be located in Italy.


Italy to host AFRICOM headquarters
By Lisa M. Novak, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, December 5, 2008

NAPLES — Italy has agreed to host the Army and Navy headquarters units of the recently created U.S. Africa Command.

The official announcement was made Wednesday evening in a joint statement at the U.S. Embassy in Rome by the U.S. Ambassador to Italy Ronald P. Spogli and the Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

The headquarters units might see slight personnel increases over the next few years. The Army’s Southern European Task Force — located in Vicenza — could increase by about 50 active-duty personnel, bringing the active-duty staff to about 300 soldiers, according to Col. Marcus De Oliveira, SETAF chief of staff.

In Naples, Naval Forces Europe was expanded to include the AFRICOM component. The new Navy designation is NAVEUR NAVAF. With a staff of about 500, that number could increase over the next few years by about 140, according to Navy officials.

Officially established Oct. 1, "AFRICOM was created to provide a strategic, holistic DOD approach to security on the African continent," according to AFRICOM commander Gen. William Ward, in his first posture statement to the House Armed Services Committee this past March.


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