Serving the Nato, Naples and Gaeta military communities in italy
57th year, No. 47
W hat ’ s I nsIde
Friday, december 14, 2012
JFC Naples Moves to Lago Patria
Anchored in Heritage, 3rdGeneration CPO Retires Page 4
Allied Joint Force Command Naples' new base in Lago Patria officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday, Dec. 13. The new base features a centralized headquarters complex, a community center and an improved Joint Operations Center with increased multimedia capabilities.(Photo by Melissa Kabukuru) By Melissa Kabukuru
NSA Naples Remembers Pearl Harbor Page 5
Navy Earns Bragging Rights with Win Page 13
Weekly Crime Statistics Review what happened between dec. 3 and dec. 9. Page 6
FRIDAY High 55 / Low 50 Rain
SATURDAY High 61 / Low 52 Chance of Rain
SUNDAY High 63 / Low 48 Chance of Rain
FTER nearly twenty five years of planning and eight years of construction, Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Naples officially opened its base in Lago Patria during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday afternoon. The new base features a consolidated headquarters complex that allows all of the various divisions of JFC to operate under the same roof. The €200 million project was built using state-ofthe art construction techniques designed to save energy, resist earthquakes and reduce maintenance costs. JFC’s transfer from its longtime base in Naples’ Bagnoli district to Lago Patria had been in the works since 1988, when NATO officials first
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decided to build a new headquarters facility. Construction began in Lago Patria in 2004. Unlike JFC’s former facilities in Bagnoli, the new headquarters complex in Lago Patria consists of three-interconnected wings, rather than a series of separate buildings “Everything is in the main complex,” said Diana Sodano, community relations advisor with the JFC Naples public affairs office. “All of the divisions are here.” The idea behind the design is to increase communication between units and help JFC operate more efficiently, said engineer Giuseppe Anzaldi, deputy of JFC Naples’ project management office. “All of the offices are close together, so the commander has the ability to get everyone together in a short period of time,” Anzaldi said.
The headquarters is built using a combination of aluminum, recyclable materials and concrete, Anzaldi said, making the building environmentally friendly as well as easier to maintain. “From an architectural standpoint, it is very innovative,” Anzaldi said. “You don’t have to repaint the building every five years.” Additionally, a separate building called the Community Center is designed to bring together the services and amenities that employees and family members use in their off-duty time. The Community Center is where visitors will find three post offices, a mess hall, ration-card offices, banking services, a barber shop, a beauty center, and the SAVE Center, as well as other shops.
USO Sponsors Mosaic Art Show for Local Artists
10-year-old Ben Leese, a local Naples sketch artist, shows his sketches to fellow participant Liz Knapp at the Uniformed Services Organization (USO) sponsored Mosaic Art Show, held aboard Naval Support Activity Naples Support Site, Dec. 7. The free event gave local Naples artists the opportunity to showcase their work to the community.
Story and photo by MC3 Caitlin Conroy, Navy Public Affairs Support Element-East Detachment Europe
HE USO Naples comNaval from mittee Support Activity Naples, sponsored its first free mosaic art show at the Navy Exchange food court, Dec. 7, to showcase the talents of local Naples area artists. The event was open to the base community and included varying types of art such as photography, knitting, sketch work, acrylic painting and graphic design. “This event is an opportunity for that inner artist to come out,” said Kenneth Spencer, assistant
see JFC Page 5
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human resources manager for Navy Exchange Europe and a volunteer with the USO. “If an artist did want to sell their work, this provided an opportunity for them to show it. This event also helps artists’ network with one
another.” Spencer also said he was pleased with the amount of participation in the show. “The turnout has been very good,” said Spencer. “We were wondering how many artists
were going to come and we ended up with more than we expected. We were very happy to find this many artists who were interested in showing their work.” see MOSAIC Page 12