Williamson previously served as commander of Navy Region Midwest, Navy Region Southeast, and Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, but said this region is definitely different from his previous regional commands.
"EURAFSWA's mission sets are the same as CNIC and other regions," said Williamson. "CNIC (Commander, Navy Installations Command) provides air operations, port operations, security, safety, Fleet and Family [Support Center], MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation), and housing. In addition to that, we also provide what I like to call 'the core.' The core is -- I use an engineering analogy here being an old engineer -- is basically the water, the power, sewage, all the things that basically make a city, which is what are our installations are."
Speaking on the challenges that EURAFSWA faces, Williamson stated the geographic area of operations in EURAFSWA is extensive and covers three continents -- Africa, Europe, and Asia.
As the persistent shore presence in the AOR, EURAFSWA cooperates with its host nations to strengthen relationships and bonds to ensure an increase in peace and prosperity throughout the region.
"The thing that's different about EURAFSWA is where those missions are being performed," said Williamson. "We rely heavily on our host nation for support. All the nations here have been beneficial and supportive as we do the missions to support NATO and the countries in the gulf."
The challenges might be a little bit different," Williamson added. "Instead of the Virginia Beach Police Department or the San Diego Police Department coming to support you, it is really the host nation. My COs (commanding officers) and staff on the installations work very hard to ensure that's seamless."
As the security provider for forward deployed naval forces, EURAFSWA's installations provide protected platforms to operate from as well as safe housing to families.
"We have nine bases in the AOR and soon we'll have a base in Poland; the AOR is massive so obviously time and distance is one of our challenges," said Williamson. "But one of the things that we do, just like in the regions I had in CONUS (continental United States), we support the fleet, the fighter, and the family."
Williamson also spoke about the difference between a program-focus versus a mission-focus within CNIC.
"When we speak air operations the fleet understands that as runways, the lighting, the air traffic controllers, the hangars, the ability to do maintenance on the ground on the airplane, [and] port operations," said Williamson. "All those things are very critical to the fleet. We need to talk that language to them. That's the mission language. The program language is what I need to secure the resources to generate those things -- taking the mission sets and breaking them down into the programs so that we can communicate back to the states to ensure that we have the resources necessary to meet those missions. I think my job as a region commander and my staff's job is to be that translator."
The capability of the shore installations allows U.S. and Allied forces in the region to maintain the right presence where and when they are needed.
"I've been absolutely impressed by the regional staff here and all the installations," said Williamson. "Obviously they take their jobs very seriously. One of the things that is very interesting to me is that not only do we support the Navy, but we support the other services as well -- the Army, the Air Force and the Marine Corps. They all operate off our installations. In addition to that a lot of our installations have family members. So our ability to provide a safe environment for those platforms to operate is really critical to us. The region staff and the region take this very seriously."
The regional commanders have been developing relationships that are important to the missions of U.S. operations in the EURAFSWA area.
"I'm very proud of the COs here," said Williamson. "They work very hard maintaining the relationships within the fence line and also outside the fence line, which is critical to their success."
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.08.2016 10:12 |
| Story ID: | 203409 |
| Location: | NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY NAPLES, IT |
| Web Views: | 120 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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