Naval Station Rota, Spain

Last updated
Naval Station Rota
Base Naval de Rota
Rota, Province of Cádiz, Spain
Naval station Rota Spain logo.png
U.S. Naval Station Rota logo
Spain Andalusia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
NAVSTA Rota
Spain location map.svg
Red pog.svg
NAVSTA Rota
Coordinates 36°37′15″N6°19′54″W / 36.620763°N 6.331558°W / 36.620763; -6.331558 Coordinates: 36°37′15″N6°19′54″W / 36.620763°N 6.331558°W / 36.620763; -6.331558
TypeMilitary base
Site information
Controlled byFlag of the United States.svg  USA and Flag of Spain.svg  Spain under several mutual aid agreements
Site history
BuiltSeptember 26, 1953
In use1953 – present
Garrison information
Past
commanders		 Spanish Navy Vice Admiral and the Commander, U.S. Naval Activities, Spain

Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota, ( IATA : ROZ, ICAO : LERT) (Spanish : Base Naval de Rota), is a Spanish naval base commanded by a Spanish Rear Admiral and fully funded by the United States of America. [1] Located in Rota in the Province of Cádiz, near the town of El Puerto de Santa María, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military community in Spain, housing US Navy and US Marine Corps personnel. There are also small US Army and US Air Force contingents on the base.

An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code or simply a location identifier, is a three-letter code designating many airports around the world, defined by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The characters prominently displayed on baggage tags attached at airport check-in desks are an example of a way these codes are used.

ICAO airport code four-letter code designating many airports around the world

The ICAOairport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published in ICAO Document 7910: Location Indicators, are used by air traffic control and airline operations such as flight planning.

Spanish language Romance language

Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language that originated in the Castile region of Spain and today has hundreds of millions of native speakers in the Americas and Spain. It is a global language and the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese.

Contents

History

NAVSTA Rota has been in use since 1953 [2] [3] when Spanish dictator Francisco Franco strengthened relations with the United States in order to improve local economies. The installation now covers more than 6,000 acres (24 km2) on the northern shore of Cadiz, [4] an area recognized for its strategic, maritime importance over the centuries.

Francisco Franco Spanish general and dictator

Francisco Franco Bahamonde was a Spanish general and politician who ruled over Spain as a military dictator from 1939, after the nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War, until his death in 1975. This period in Spanish history is commonly known as Francoist Spain.

United States Federal republic in North America

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

U.S. Air Force Boeing C-135B-BN Stratolifter circa mid-1960's Aircraft at Naval Station Rota in the mid-1960s.jpg
U.S. Air Force Boeing C-135B-BN Stratolifter circa mid-1960's

The Chief of Naval Operations deployed Submarine Squadron 16 (SUBRON 16) to Rota on 28 January 1964 and embarked upon USS Proteus. USS Lafayette completed its first Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) deterrent patrol with the Polaris missile and commenced the first refit and replenishment at Rota. During the early 1970s, the submarines assigned to SUBRON 16 were completing conversion to the Poseidon missile. [5] That transition was completed when USS Francis Scott Key returned to Rota on 14 January 1974. Treaty negotiations between Spain and the United States in 1975 resulted in a planned withdrawal of SUBRON 16 from Spain, and the Chief of Naval Operations ordered studies to select a new refit site on the East Coast of the United States. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty in June 1976; it called for the squadron's withdrawal from Spain by July 1979. In November 1976 the Secretary of the Navy announced Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia as that new refit site. [1]

Chief of Naval Operations statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy

The Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer and professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff the CNO is a military adviser to the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, the Secretary of Defense, and the President. The current Chief of Naval Operations is Admiral John M. Richardson.

Submarine Watercraft capable of independent operation underwater

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. It is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely operated vehicles and robots, as well as medium-sized or smaller vessels, such as the midget submarine and the wet sub.

A squadron, or naval squadron, is a significant group of warships which is nonetheless considered too small to be designated a fleet. A squadron is typically a part of a fleet. Between different navies there are no clear defining parameters to distinguish a squadron from a fleet, and the size and strength of a naval squadron varies greatly according to the country and time period. Groups of small warships, or small groups of major warships, might instead be designated flotillas by some navies according to their terminology. Since the size of a naval squadron varies greatly, the rank associated with command of a squadron also varies greatly.

At its peak size in the early 1980s, NAVSTA Rota was home to 16,000 sailors and their families, to include two permanently forward deployed aviation squadrons, Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ-2) and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron TWENTY TWO (VR-22). VQ-2 was based at Rota from 1959 until 2005, when it relocated to NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. [6] VR-22 flew the C-130F and was based at Rota from 1982 until its inactivation in 1993. Through the early 1990s, a patrol squadron of P-3 Orion aircraft based in the United States would also be split-based between NAVSTA Rota and the Naval Air Facility at Lajes Air Base in the Azores to track Soviet naval vessels and submarines in the Atlantic Ocean and in the Mediterranean. The patrol squadrons would rotate assignment to Rota and Lajes every six months and were augmented by Naval Air Reserve patrol squadrons for shorter durations on a periodic basis.

VQ-2

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron VQ-2, also known as "Batmen" and later "Sandeman," was an air reconnaissance squadron of the United States Navy was established on 1 September 1955 and based at NAS Whidbey Island, previously at NAVSTA Rota, Spain, flying Lockheed EP-3 aircraft. The squadron was disestablished on 22 May 2012.

Azores Portuguese archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean

The Azores, officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores, is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal. It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean about 1,360 km (850 mi) west of continental Portugal, about 1,643 km (1,021 mi) west of Lisbon, in continental Portugal, about 1,507 km (936 mi) northwest of Morocco, and about 1,925 km (1,196 mi) southeast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Atlantic Ocean Ocean between Europe, Africa and the Americas

The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's oceans, with an area of about 106,460,000 square kilometers. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth's surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area. It separates the "Old World" from the "New World".

With the downsizing of the US Navy during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially after the end of the Cold War, the base's population dramatically declined. The US Navy maintains approximately 5,200 acres (21 km2) of the 6,000-acre (24 km2) complex. There are about 4,000 Americans in Rota, including military, civilians, and their families. [1]

A layoff is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing an organization. Originally, layoff referred exclusively to a temporary interruption in work, or employment but this has evolved to a permanent elimination of a position in both British and US English, requiring the addition of "temporary" to specify the original meaning of the word. A layoff is not to be confused with wrongful termination. Laid off workers or displaced workers are workers who have lost or left their jobs because their employer has closed or moved, there was insufficient work for them to do, or their position or shift was abolished. Downsizing in a company is defined to involve the reduction of employees in a workforce. Downsizing in companies became a popular practice in the 1980s and early 1990s as it was seen as a way to deliver better shareholder value as it helps to reduce the costs of employers. Indeed, recent research on downsizing in the U.S., UK, and Japan suggests that downsizing is being regarded by management as one of the preferred routes to help declining organizations, cutting unnecessary costs, and improve organizational performance. Usually a layoff occurs as a cost cutting measure.

As US Navy started to reduce its presence USAF realized the potential of the airfield as a refuelling stop in Middle East deployments. Rota was used by C-5 and C-141 planes in the Gulf War in 1991. Later the US agreed with Spain to improve air base installations so it could handle more cargo plane operations.

In April 2011, the commander of the US Navy garrison at the base, Captain William F. Mosk, was relieved of command and reassigned during an investigation into illegal drug use by US servicemen at the installation. Rear Admiral Tony Gaiani relieved Mosk for "lost confidence in his ability to command", specifically, to handle issues related to the investigation. [7]

On October 5, 2011, US Secretary of Defense Panetta announced that the USN will station four Aegis warships at Rota to strengthen its presence in the Mediterranean Sea and bolster the missile defense of NATO as part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA). As of 2015, four US destroyers, including USS Carney, USS Ross, USS Donald Cook and USS Porter are permanently forward-deployed to Naval Station Rota as part of the Missile Defense System. [8]

Overview

Eight C-5 Galaxy aircraft at Rota US Navy 100417-F-4984M-078 Aircraft assigned to the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command are on the flight line at Naval Station Rota, Spain.jpg
Eight C-5 Galaxy aircraft at Rota
The Spanish Navy aircraft carrier Dedalo (R01) tied up at a pier at Naval Station Rota. Spanish carrier Dedalo at Naval Station Rota 1976.JPEG
The Spanish Navy aircraft carrier Dédalo (R01) tied up at a pier at Naval Station Rota.
Spanish frigate Navarra (F85) at Rota Spanish frigate-Navarra (F85)-01.jpg
Spanish frigate Navarra (F85) at Rota
The joint U.S.-Spanish Color Guard aboard Naval Station, Rota, parades the colors during the Change of Command and Marine Corps Security Force Europe. US Navy 020712-N-1147E-001 Color guard - Rota.jpg
The joint U.S.-Spanish Color Guard aboard Naval Station, Rota, parades the colors during the Change of Command and Marine Corps Security Force Europe.
The Naval Base is depicted in grey PLANO-DE-BASE-ROTA.PNG
The Naval Base is depicted in grey

Naval Station Rota is home to an airfield and a seaport; [9] the airfield has often caused the base to be misidentified as "Naval Air Station Rota". The base is the headquarters for Commander, U.S. Naval Activities Spain (COMNAVACTSPAIN), as well as a primary gateway for Air Mobility Command flights into Europe. [10]

Naval Station Rota is strategically located near the Strait of Gibraltar and at the halfway point between the United States and Southwest Asia. Because of this ideal location, the base is able to provide invaluable support to both US Sixth Fleet units in the Mediterranean and to USAF Air Mobility Command units transiting to Germany and Southwest Asia. The Base and its tenant commands are located within the boundaries of the 6,100-acre (25 km2) Spanish "Base Naval de Rota". Under the guidance of the Agreement for Defense Cooperation, the US and Spanish navies work together and share many facilities. The US Navy has the responsibility for maintaining the station's infrastructure, including a 670-acre (2.7 km2) airfield, three active piers, 426 facilities and 806 family housing units. [1]

From Naval Station Rota Spain, the VLF-transmitter Guardamar, which uses Torreta de Guardamar, the tallest man-made structure in the European Union as antenna, is telecontroled.[ clarification needed ]

Naval Station Rota provides support for US and NATO ships; supports the safe and efficient movement of US Navy and US Air Force flights and passengers; and provides cargo, fuel, and ammunition to units in the region. The Naval Station is the only base in the Mediterranean capable of supporting Amphibious Readiness Group post-deployment wash-downs. The base port also offers secure, pier-side maintenance and back-load facilities. Rota supports Amphibious Readiness Group turnovers and hosts Sailors and Marines from visiting afloat units. The base also provides Quality of Life support to Morón Air Base, ARG support sites at Palma de Majorca, NATO headquarters in Madrid and the Military Sealift Command's Maritime Prepositioning Squadron 1. Rota also supports NASA Space Shuttle missions, and ongoing operations in the European theater of operations. [1] The piers in Rota are available for US and NATO aircraft carriers, as well as ESPS Juan Carlos I (L-61), one of the capital ships operated by the Spanish Navy which has replaced the aircraft carrier ESPS Príncipe de Asturias (R-11).

The mission of US Forces at Rota, as well as other US Navy installations in the Mediterranean such as NAS Sigonella and Souda Air Base is to provide Command, Control and Logistics Support to US and NATO Operating Forces. These three facilities are undergoing a transformation from Maritime Patrol Aircraft airfields to Multi-role “Hubs” providing crucial air-links for USAF strategic airlift and mobility in support of US European Command (EUCOM), Central Command (CENTCOM) and African Area contingency operations under CENTCOM, EUCOM and the evolving Africa Command (AFRICOM). [1]

The base is used jointly by Spain and the United States. It remains under the Spanish flag and is commanded by a Spanish Vice Admiral. While the Spanish Navy is responsible for external security of the base, both Navies are charged with internal security. NAVSTA Rota is technically a tenant facility of the Rota Spanish Navy base, although as such the USA pays for all the expenses and capital improvements. As a result, certain U.S. military customs are not observed, such as the display of a U.S. Flag, which is only allowed during the annual Fourth of July celebration or occasionally at half mast as a mark of respect with the ad-hoc permission of the Spanish Admiral.

Tenant Commands and Forward-deployed ships

Opposition

Since the 1980s, various leftist and activist pacifist groups have marched annually to protest the presence of U.S. and Spanish military personnel and equipment at the port of Rota. The most common path marches alongside the seaside streets of the town to protest at the individual U.S. (NAVSTA Rota), Spanish ( Base Naval de Rota ) and joint gates, where representatives of the groups read proclamations in favour of peace and freedom.

The protests against the base are considered controversial amongst local residents, with some opposed to the protests because they consider that the base provides jobs and businesses benefit from money derived from the Spanish and U.S. military.

Related Research Articles

<i>Arleigh Burke</i>-class destroyer class of guided missile destroyers

The Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers (DDGs) is the United States Navy's first class of destroyer built around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh Burke, an American destroyer officer in World War II, and later Chief of Naval Operations. The class leader, USS Arleigh Burke, was commissioned during Admiral Burke's lifetime.

United States Sixth Fleet Numbered fleet of the United States Navy

The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in 2011 is that it "conducts the full range of Maritime Operations and Theater Security Cooperation missions, in concert with coalition, joint, interagency, and other parties, in order to advance security and stability in Europe and Africa." The current commander of the Sixth Fleet is Vice Admiral Lisa M. Franchetti.

Naval Station Mayport airport in Florida, United States of America

Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military airfield with one asphalt paved runway (5/23) measuring 8,001 ft × 200 ft.

USS <i>Barry</i> (DDG-52) United States Navy destroyer

USS Barry (DDG-52) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, commissioned in 1992. Barry is the fourth United States Navy ship named after the "Father of the American Navy", Commodore John Barry (1745–1803). Its homeport is Naval Station Yokosuka, Japan. Several improvements over Arleigh Burke exist on this ship and all following Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. They include the ability to refuel a helicopter and several other small improvements.

USS <i>Donald Cook</i> Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

USS Donald Cook (DDG-75) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy named for Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Donald Cook. This ship is the 25th destroyer of her class. USS Donald Cook was the 14th ship of this class to be built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, where construction began on 9 July 1996. She was launched and christened on 3 May 1997. On 4 December 1998 she was commissioned at Penn’s Landing Pier in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

USS <i>Carney</i> Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

USS Carney (DDG-64) is the 14th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. The ship is the first to be named after Admiral Robert Carney who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower administration.

USS <i>Ross</i> (DDG-71) Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer

USS Ross (DDG-71) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is the second Navy ship to be named Ross, the first Navy ship named for Medal of Honor recipient Donald K. Ross and the 21st destroyer of her class. The first Ross, DD-563, was named for David Ross, a captain in the Continental Navy.

USS <i>Mahan</i> (DDG-72) guided missile destroyer

USS Mahan (DDG-72) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer currently in service with the United States Navy. She is named for seapower naval theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan being the fourth Navy ship to bear the name. This ship is the 22nd destroyer of her class. USS Mahan was the 12th ship of this class to be built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and construction began on 17 August 1995. She was launched and christened on 29 June 1996. On 14 February 1998 she was commissioned in Tampa, Florida. Mahan is homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, and as of 2012 is attached to Destroyer Squadron 2. By 2016, the ship was part of Destroyer Squadron 22.

USS <i>Porter</i> (DDG-78) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

USS Porter (DDG-78) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. Porter is the fifth US Navy ship to be named after US Navy officers Commodore David Porter, and his son, Admiral David Dixon Porter. This ship is the 28th destroyer of her class. Porter was the 12th ship of this class to be built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was laid down on 2 December 1996, launched and christened on 12 November 1997, and commissioned 20 March 1999, in Port Canaveral, Florida.

Naval Station Norfolk base of the United States Navy

Naval Station Norfolk, is a United States Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia. It supports naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean. The installation occupies about 4 miles (6.4 km) of waterfront space and 11 miles (18 km) of pier and wharf space of the Hampton Roads peninsula known as Sewell's Point. It is the world's largest naval station, with the largest concentration of U.S. Navy forces through 75 ships alongside 14 piers and with 134 aircraft and 11 aircraft hangars at the adjacently operated Chambers Field and Port Services controls more than 3,100 ships' movements annually as they arrive and depart their berths.

USS <i>Francis Scott Key</i> (SSBN-657) ballistic missile submarine

USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN-657), a Benjamin Franklin-class ballistic missile submarine, was the only submarine of the United States Navy to be named for Francis Scott Key (1779–1843), an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet who wrote the poem "The Defense of Fort McHenry", which became the words to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". During WW 2 there was a liberty ship USS Francis Scott Key 0016

Kindley Air Force Base

Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Forces as Kindley Field.

United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka United States Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan

United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka or Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka is a United States Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan. Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic, recreational, administrative support and service of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, Seventh Fleet and other operating forces assigned in the Western Pacific. CFAY is the largest strategically important U.S. naval installation in the western Pacific. As of August 2013, it was commanded by Captain David Glenister.

Naval air station military airbase under naval command

A naval air station is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy. These bases are typically populated by squadrons, groups or wings, their various support commands, and other tenant commands.

Naval Air Station Keflavik

Naval Air Station Keflavik (NASKEF) is a U.S. Navy base at Keflavík International Airport, Iceland. It is located on the Reykjanes peninsula on the south-west portion of the island. Built during World War II by the United States Army as part of its mission to maintain the defense of Iceland and secure northern Atlantic air routes, it served to ferry personnel, equipment, and supplies to Europe. Intended as a temporary wartime base under an agreement with Iceland and the British, US forces withdrew by 1947, but returned in 1951 as the Iceland Defense Force, now operating a NATO base. NASKEF was closed on 8 September 2006 and its facilities taken over by the Icelandic Defence Agency as their primary base until 1 January 2011 when the Agency was abolished and the base handed over to the Icelandic Coast Guard which has since then operated the base. The base is regularly visited by the American military and other NATO allies, for military exercises, NATO Air Policing and other tasks. In 2017 the United States announced its intention to modify the largest hangar on the airbase in order to house the new Boeing P-8 Poseidon ASW aircraft being introduced.

Commander, Naval Surface Force, Atlantic (COMNAVSURFLANT) is a post within the United States Fleet Forces Command. As Naval Surface Force Atlantic, it is a military formation, but the organization is often known as SURFLANT. Its headquarters are at the Naval Station Norfolk, Norfolk, Virginia. The current commander is Rear Admiral Jesse Wilson. COMNAVSURFLANT supervises all surface ships based on the Eastern United States and Gulf Coast of the United States, as well as ships forwarded deployed to Naval Station Rota, Spain.

Jesse A. Wilson Jr. United States Naval captain

Rear Admiral Jesse Alphonso Wilson Jr. USN currently serves as commander of Naval Surface Force Atlantic.

Destroyer Squadron 60 squadron of the United States Navy

Destroyer Squadron 60 is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. Destroyer Squadron 60 is one of three U.S. Navy destroyer squadrons permanently based outside the continental United States.

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (United States Navy)

Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 3 (VQ-3), nicknamed the Ironmen, is a naval aviation squadron of the United States Navy based at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The squadron flies the Boeing E-6B Mercury airborne command post and communications relay aircraft. It is part of the Navy's TACAMO community, whose mission is to enable the President of the United States and the Secretary of Defense to directly communicate with U.S. submarines, bombers, and missile silos during a nuclear war.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "NAS Rota". Globalsecurity.org. p. 7 paragraphs down.
  2. ↑ Barker, Lt. Corey (24 September 2003). "U.S. Naval Station Rota, Spain Celebrates 50th Anniversary". United States Navy . United States Department of Defense . Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Alston, Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Travis (27 September 2013). "NAVSTA Rota Celebrates 60 Years of Partnership with Spain". United States Navy . United States Department of Defense . Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "Aggressive Naval Station Rota Military Defense Attorneys". Gonzalez & Waddington, LLC . Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  5. ↑ "USS Lafayette SSBN 616". SSBN-616. United States . Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "FLEET AIR RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON TWO". Rota, Spain: US Navy. 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-05-17. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  7. ↑ Jontz, Sandra, "Naval Station Rota commander is relieved of command", Stars and Stripes , 19 April 2011.
  8. ↑ "USS Donald Cook Departs Norfolk for Spain". Norfolk, Virginia: Military.com. 2014. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  9. ↑ Saul Eadweard Helias, ed. (2012). Naval Station Rota Spain. Germany: Rupt Books. ISBN   978-6138779735.
  10. ↑ "Commander Navy Installations Command at Rota". Rota, Spain: US Navy. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
Video links
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.