US Ambassador to Greece Visits Souda Bay, Crete

Photo By Joel Diller | NAVAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY SOUDA BAY, Greece (Dec. 9, 2019) U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt (left) and Capt. Seth Burton, commanding officer, USS Florida (right), board the Ohio-class cruise missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728) at the Marathi NATO Pier Facility, Dec. 9, 2019. NSA Souda Bay is an operational ashore base that enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to be where they are needed when they are needed to ensure security and stability in Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia. (U.S. Navy photo by Joel Diller/Released)  

GREECE

12.10.2019

Story by Joel Diller 

U.S. Naval Support Activity Souda Bay

U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt visited Naval Support Activity Souda Bay, Greece, Dec. 9, 2019, to meet with command leadership and tour the facilities. Pyatt also visited the Marathi NATO Pier Facility, where he met with the Commander, Hellenic Navy Base Souda and boarded the Ohio-class cruise missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN 728).

During the visit, Pyatt said that Souda Bay is an important facility with a critically important mission at a time when the U.S.-Greece military relationship is at a high point, noting that the two nations revised and expanded their Military Defense Cooperation Agreement in October 2019 during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Greece.

“We work together all around this critical theater from Alexandroupoli to Larissa to Stefanovikeio – but Souda Bay really is the flagship of our military cooperation” said Pyatt.

NSA Souda Bay is a unique facility to have access to both an all-weather airfield, which is shared with the Hellenic Air Force’s 115th Combat Wing and Chania International Airport, and a deep-water pier that can accommodate an aircraft carrier.

“It’s a unique asset. Unique in the 6th Fleet (area of responsibility), but also important not just to European Command, but also to Central Command and Africa Command,” said Pyatt. “It’s located in a strategically vital Eastern Mediterranean region where we are dealing now with the return of the great power competitions.”

Pyatt said another thing that sets Souda Bay apart is the quality of partnership it has with its Greek military allies.

“We couldn’t do anything without the support and enabling capacity that our Greek allies provide,” said Pyatt. “So we’re really grateful for that as well.”

• Date Taken: 12.10.2019
• Date Posted: 12.10.2019 09:33
• Story ID: 354969
• Location: GR