National Preparedness Month Begins PAGE 4
Starbucks Opens 1st Shop in Italy
Prepare Yourself for Flu Season
PAGE 6
N A S SIG O N E L L A
PAGE 15
SEPTEMBER 14, 2018
Vol. 35 No. 34
NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Force Holds First Change of Command Ceremony By NATO AGS Force Public Affairs Office
SIGONELLA, Sicily (September 10, 2018) Gen. Tod. Wolters, commander, Air Allied Command, presents Brig. Gen. Phillip Stewart, commander, NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Force, with the command pennant at a change of command ceremony held in the NATO hangar aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella 10 Sept. Stewart relieved Col. Pedro Renn as the commanding officer of NATO AGS. (Photo by Stabsbootsmann Falk Plankenhorn)
SIGONELLA, Italy – The NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Force change of command ceremony was held at the Italian Air Base Sigonella, Sicily, on Monday, September 10, 2018. Brig. Gen. Phillip A. Stewart, United States Air Force, assumed his duties as the new commander of NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) Force. In taking command from Interim Commander Col. Pedro Renn, Stewart becomes the first commander of AGS within its new permanent structure. Monday’s ceremony marks the culmination of a major milestone of the command’s building process, which began in September 2015. For the last three years, Renn served as Interim Commander and Director of the AGS Staff Element Implementation Office (SEIO) at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium. With his new command, Stewart becomes the highest ranking U.S. service member permanently stationed at Sigonella. During his remarks Renn expressed his pride with the progress made during his time at the command. While AGS SEIO coordinated closely with NATO agencies and industry partners in representing the Force’s needs, a team at Sigonella began to develop the AGS Force locally. During his farewell speech, Renn took a look back, “In September 2015, the first 12 people at Sigonella had minimal equipment and infrastructure, but tons of motivation. Since then, we’ve come a long way.”
"NATO" continued on Page 14
NAS Sigonella Commemorates 9/11 Anniversary By Janine Scianna NAS Sigonella Public Affairs
It has been seventeen long years, but for many Americans like Yeoman 2nd Class Felicia Green, the memories are still vivid and raw. As the guest speaker for the 9/11 ceremony on Tuesday, she recounted in detail her answer to the question many who were alive on that fateful day can easily answer: “Where were you when you found out?” For Green, her answer was so much more heartrending and powerful. She was just nine years old and in a Bronx classroom. While her teacher tuned the television to news, she knew her mother could be in danger. She recounted what it felt like to not know for sure if her mother was alive until she, her dad, and brother ran into her in the Bronx—cell phone communications were down and her mother had walked 10 miles from her office in midtown Manhattan. As fate would have it, Green’s mother, who previously worked in one of the World Trade Center towers, switched job locations not long before the 9/11 attack. Green remembers being overcome with relief the moment she saw her mother alive. “Where I come from, we don’t talk about tragedy,” Green said. But, she acknowledged that having open dialogues like this week’s ceremony allows her to process what happened. Green’s aunt, a construction worker at ground zero, witnessed the turmoil and aftermath in the days that followed 9/11—the families looking for loved ones, and the uncovering of bodies and artifacts. Her aunt never took the time to seek professional help to deal with the powerful emotions that
SIGONELLA, Sicily (September 11, 2018) Service members and civilians stationed onboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella listen to remarks given by Yeoman 2nd Class Felicia Green during a 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the installation. NAS Sigonella is an operational ashore base that enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to be where they are needed and when they are needed to ensure security and stability in Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia. (U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Andriana Genualdi/Released)
came from working at ground zero, and Green reminded the audience of how important it is to take care of one’s mental health. After Green’s poignant remarks, the Chief Petty Officer Selectees unveiled and dedicated a new memorial at the fountain on NAS II to the victims of United Airlines Flight 93, the highjacked plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania. The NAS Sigonella base commanding officer, Capt. Brent Trickel, and command master chief, CMDCM Nancy Estrada, laid a wreath at its base. The fountain in front of the command building at NAS Sigonella is now ringed by three memorials to 9/11: one to those who died in the twin towers, one to those who perished at the Pentagon, and this final one to the people who went down with Flight 93. The ceremony closed with the symbolic ringing of four singular bells in sequence, marking the fall of
each World Trade Center tower, the Pentagon attack, and finally, the Flight 93 crash. That day, 2,977 people lost their lives, and thousands more have become ill or died from exposure to toxins at ground zero. New York's Committee for Occupational Safety & Health estimates that about 6,000 of the 9/11 first responders are now living with cancer, with thousands more suffering from breathing problems or mental health issues. The effects of that tragic day, even seventeen years later, steadily linger on. Yet, the resolve of the nation to honor the victims and heroes of that day continues to inspire us all. As the master of ceremonies, MSgt (Sel) Justin Royse, stated “May the lives remembered, the deeds recognized, and the spirit reawakened be eternal beacons which reaffirm respect for life, strengthen our resolve to preserve freedom, and inspire an end to hatred, ignorance, and intolerance.”