It Takes a Village Here at NASSIG

By NAS Sigonella Public Affairs

Military life is full of changes as personnel deploy and rotate duty stations, and Naval Air Station Sigonella is no different. New faces of appear every few months, and the coronavirus pandemic necessitated additional safety measures when handling personnel transfers. Team Sigonella adapted to the challenge and ensured a smooth transition for the rotation of deployed forces supported by the installation.

Recently, there have been two such rotations with the COVID-19 precautions in place. The “Skinny Dragons” of Patrol Squadron 4 (VP4) turned over with the “Golden Swordsman” of Patrol Squadron 47 (VP-47), while Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force - Crisis Response – Africa 20.2 (“20” for the fiscal year, “2” for the 2nd rotation of the year) relieved SPAGTF-CR-AF 20.1.

To successfully begin the rotation, both incoming elements immediately began a 14-day quarantine period upon arrival to Sigonella in alignment with Italian national and regional decrees. The entire team at Navy Gateway Inns and Suites gracefully handled the accommodation needs during this isolation phase.

“We are not just providing rooms, we are providing homes for these squadrons. The staff’s dedication to their jobs is seen in their efforts to turnover large groups such as these,” remarked NAS Sigonella’s Fleet Readiness Director, Courtney Silvestre.

To ensure the safety of our NAS Sigonella community, all arriving personnel must be tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, so prior to release from quarantine, medical professionals of the SPMAGTF-CR-AF 20.1 and Naval Hospital Sigonella collected nasopharyngeal specimens to screen for COVID-19. This large scale testing required a large open location to facilitate social distancing requirements. Sigonella’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation team came to the rescue by opening up the basketball courts to provide an isolated area for the incoming personnel to be safely screened while under quarantine.

The gym and hotel staff were not the only ones to assist in the overall effort. Local national and military personnel of Ristorante Bella Etna, NAS Sigonella’s award-winning galley, also rose to the challenge, preparing hundreds of boxed meals for the quarantined personnel while maintaining normal galley operations. Once prepared, Sailors and Marines delivered the meals to the individual rooms of those in restriction of movement for 14 days.

“To date, we have prepared thousands of Restriction of Movement meals and still counting,” said Chief Culinary Specialist Marco Guevarra. “For this to happen, it took the drive and dedication of our family of military staff and 47 local nationals, along with the support of the Command to draft them authorization letters to travel to work in the middle of strict lockdown enforcement of the local government.”

VP-47 operates the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft capable of conducting antisubmarine warfare, maritime domain awareness, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, anti-surface warfare, and search and rescue missions. The squadron is forward deployed to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility and is currently assigned to Commander, Task Force 67, responsible for tactical control of deployed maritime patrol and reconnaissance forces throughout the European and African areas of responsibility.

SPMAGTF-CR-AF is a contingent of Marines and Sailors located in Spain and Italy positioned to quickly respond to a broad spectrum of missions ranging from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to providing military support to U.S. embassies and partner and allied nations.

The unit is a self-deploying and highly mobile crisis response force allocated to U.S. Africa Command, ready to respond to missions in both permissive and uncertain environments. These missions include contingency operations, theater security cooperation, tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel, enabling operations and other missions as directed.

With the isolation phase completed, both VP47 and SPMAGTF-CR-AF 20.2 are now settled and ready to continue their respective missions from NAS Sigonella. The large-scale teamwork necessary to smoothly support this rotation of troops is exactly Sigonella’s specialty. Great job team!