It took place today in Rome at the headquarters of Interoperable Summit Operations Command (COI) the visit of US Navy Admiral Robert P. Burke, commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples (JFC-Naples), the joint command of NATO, to the general of the army corps Luciano Portolano, commander of the IOC.
The visit represented the opportunity for the senior US officer to get to know the structure and functions of the IOC in the Italian defense and the dense network of international relations that the IOC maintains.
During the visit to Admiral Burke, a briefing was presented to illustrate a general picture of the structure, tasks and responsibilities assigned within the Italian defense organization and a picture of the various international operational theaters where the Italian military are currently engaged.
Admiral Burke was also presented with the vision of the IOC and Defense regarding the NATO multinational commands: the Multination Division South (MND-S) and the Multination Maritime South (MNM-S), their task and how they integrate with NATO's role and command and control structure.
In addition, an in-depth analysis was carried out on the role of Italy and NATO towards North Africa, the Sahel, the sub-Saharan territorial belt and the Middle East.
During the presentation, the possible areas of cooperation between JFC-N and the IOC were also discussed, in relation to surveillance activities in peacetime.
As part of the presentation of international missions and operations, in which Italy participates, the exhibition focused, in particular, on the operation irini, on NATO and EU operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the NATO mission in Kosovo (KFOR) and on the NATO mission in Iraq. With regard to these last two missions, a possible future Italian role and contribution was analyzed.
The visit of the commander of JFC Naples had a particular significance also in consideration of the fact that 2021 is the celebratory year of 160 years of Italian-US diplomatic relations.
