NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Philip Breedlove visited the Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, United Kingdom on Tuesday, 2 July 2013. This was General Breedlove’s first visit to HQ MARCOM since he was appointed as NATO’s top military commander on 14 May 2013.
This was also the first time that SACEUR has visited the new Allied Maritime Command since the general reorganisation of the NATO command structure, which was agreed upon by the Alliance heads of state at the 2010 Lisbon Summit. The visit was an occasion for General Breedlove to receive briefings on the NATO OCEAN SHIELD Indian Ocean Counter Piracy mission and NATO’s maritime counter-terrorism mission OPERATION ACTIVE ENDEAVOUR in the Mediterranean.
The General also received a number of comprehensive briefs on NATO’s other naval activities including the work of its maritime standing forces.
“NATO’s maritime forces are making a real impact helping to achieve an historic drop in piracy off the coast of Somalia and countering terrorism in the Mediterranean. This visit leaves me very confident in the leadership and future success of our maritime forces,” said Breedlove.
[mappress] Press Release, July 3, 2013; Image: NATO ACO