Allied Joint Force Command Naples Allied Joint Force Command ( JFC ) Naples ( JFC Naples ) is a NATO military command based in Bagnoli , a district of Naples , Italy . It was activated on 15 March 2004 , after what was effectively a redesignation of its predecessor command , Allied Forces Southern Europe ( AFSOUTH ) , originally formed in 1951 . Commander JFC Naples reports to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe , Casteau , Belgium . History . Originally , Allied Forces Southern Europe was one of two major NATO commands in the Mediterranean area , the other being Allied Forces Mediterranean based on the island of Malta , responsible for naval activities in the region . While Admiral Robert B . Carney of the U . S . Navy was appointed as Commander - in - Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe ( CinCAFSOUTH ) on 19 June 1951 , AFMED was not activated until 1953 . The delay was due to negotiations and compromises between the Americans and the British , who wished to retain one of their commanders over Britain ' s traditional sea lines of communication stretching through the Mediterranean to the Suez Canal and beyond . From 1951 to 2003 , the Commander - in - Chief of Allied Forces Southern Europe was always a United States Navy admiral , based at Naples , who also held the national appointment of Commander - in - Chief United States Naval Forces Europe . When Greece and Turkey joined the alliance in early 1952 , a new allied land sub - command , Allied Land Forces South - Eastern Europe ( LANDSOUTHEAST ) , was created with its headquarters based in Izmir , Turkey , under the command of a U . S . Army General . Later in 1953 , the various national naval forces within Allied Forces Mediterranean were organised into six separate areas , each commanded by an Admiral ( including one French ( MEDOC ) , one Greek , one Turkish , one Italian and two British ) . In time of war , CINCAFMED would be responsible for securing the Sea lines of communication s throughout the Mediterranean Sea . Some of AFSOUTH ' s first exercises took place in 1952 . Operation Ancient Wall was a series of military maneuvers involving ground small unit tactical training , land - based tactical air support , and carrier - based air support under the overall command of Admiral Carney . Exercise Grand Slam was a combined naval exercise held in the Mediterranean Sea between 25 February to 16 March 1952 . The exercise included allied warships escorting three convoys of supply ships which were subjected to repeated simulated air and submarine attacks , as well as anti - submarine warfare ( ASW ) operations and naval gunfire shore bombardment . Operation Longstep was a ten - day naval exercise held in the Mediterranean Sea held during November 1952 . It involved over 170 warships and 700 aircraft , and it featured a large - scale amphibious assault along the western coast of Turkey . 1953 AFSOUTH exercises included : In 1957 , Operation Deep Water simulated the defence of the Dardanelles from a Soviet attack . The exercise included an 8 , 000 strong amphibious landing . The drawdown of the British Mediterranean Fleet , the military difficulties of the politically - decided command structure , and the withdrawal of the French from the military command structure forced a rearrangement of the command arrangements in the southern region . Allied Forces Mediterranean was disbanded on 5 June 1967 , and all forces in the south and the Mediterranean assigned to AFSOUTH . AFSOUTH continued to conduct exercises in the 1960s and 1970s , among which was exercise ' Dawn Patrol , ' a five - nation naval and air exercise conducted throughout the Mediterranean in 1974 . The U . S . contribution to the exercise was based on the USS " America " carrier battle group . From 1967 the overall shape of AFSOUTH did not significantly change until the command was renamed in 2004 . There were five principal subordinate commands ( PSCs ) . The number rose to six when Greece was taking part in the military structure ; Greece withdrew from the NATO military structure after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 , and after some behind the scenes negotiating by NATO officials , returned in October 1980 . Two land commands , Allied Land Forces Southern Europe and Allied Land Forces Southeastern Europe , were tasked to defend Italy and Turkey respectively . Each was directly responsible to Commander - in - Chief , AFSOUTH , and supported by a tactical air force , 5th Allied Tactical Air Force in Italy and 6th Allied Tactical Air Force in Turkey . The two allied tactical air forces were under an overall air command , Allied Air Forces Southern Europe , headquartered at Naples in Italy under a United States Air Force officer , ComAirSouth , responsible himself to CinCAFSOUTH . ComAirSouth held the U . S . national appointment of Commander Sixteenth Air Force for a long period . Due to political considerations , command of the naval forces in the region was split . Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe , at Naples , operated most of the NATO allies ' naval forces in the Mediterranean under an Italian admiral . But due to the U . S . desire to retain control of their nuclear - armed naval forces , the United States Sixth Fleet reported directly to CinCAFSOUTH , supported by a separate headquarters named Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe ( STRIKFORSOUTH ) . The sixth command was an Allied command responsible for the land defence of Greece , named Allied Land Forces South - Central Europe or LANDSOUTHCENT . However it is not certain that it actually was ever operational , with the 1998 / 99 NATO Handbook listing it as ' yet to be activated . ' Below these PSCs were smaller headquarters such as Maritime Air Forces , Mediterranean , at Sigonella , Sicily , responsible for coordination of the aerial anti - submarine effort , Submarine Forces , South , and the Naval On - Call Force Mediterranean , a multinational escort squadron activated at intervals . From 1992 AFSOUTH was heavily involved in NATO operations in the Balkans , initially with NATO seaborne enforcement of a UN arms embargo , Operation ' Maritime Monitor , ' which began in July 1992 . This operation was fused with a similar Western European Union effort and thus became Operation Sharp Guard from July 1993 . AFSOUTH also directed activities such as Operation Deny Flight from AIRSOUTH headquarters in Italy . Commander - in - Chief AFSOUTH directed the NATO peacekeeping missions in Bosnia & Hercegovina , IFOR and SFOR , from December 1995 . While technically in charge of KFOR from mid - 1999 , General Sir Mike Jackson ' s autobiography , " Soldier , " indicates General Wesley Clark at SHAPE in Belgium directly supervised many of KFOR ' s activities , without going through AFSOUTH , at least during the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ' tour as HQ KFOR in 1999 . The reorganisation of AFSOUTH as JFC Naples in 2004 was a part of NATO ’ s transformation , initiated by the Prague summit of 2002 , aimed at adapting the allied military structure to the operational challenges of coalition warfare , to face the emerging threats in the new millennium . The new NATO Command Structure is leaner , more flexible , and focused on conducting a much wider range of missions . Mission . Commander , Allied Joint Force Command Naples , is to be prepared to conduct the full range of military operations throughout the NATO Area of Responsibility ( AOR ) and beyond in order to deter aggression and to contribute to the effective defence of NATO territory and forces , safeguard freedom of the seas and economic lifelines and to preserve or restore the security of NATO nations . In addition , he is to contribute to crisis management and deterrence by ensuring that assigned headquarters and forces are at the designated state of readiness for the conduct and support of operations , and to conduct prudent operational level military analysis and planning that includes the identification of required forces . He is to contribute to the development , conduct and evaluation of exercises to train Allied and Partner HQs and Forces in NATO joint / combined procedures . He shall also contribute to stability throughout the Euro - Atlantic area through cooperation and dialogue under Partnership for Peace , the Mediterranean Dialogue , enhanced relations with Russia and Ukraine , as well as other initiatives in the field of consultation and engagement of non - NATO nations . He shall also work with Allied Command Transformation , in particular to promote the provision of capable combined / joint HQs , forces and capabilities . COM JFC Naples has no permanently designated AOR but Supreme Allied Commander Europe ( SACEUR ) can designate an approved Joint Operations Area ( JOA ) to meet the requirement for exercises and operations . He will be assigned by SACEUR Areas of Functional Responsibility ( AOFR ) for day - to - day activities and the conduct of routine operational and non - operational tasks . COM JFC Naples can be also assigned Areas of Interest ( AOI ) beyond NATO ’ s territory to monitor and analyse regional instabilities , military capabilities and transnational issues , in order to identify their potential military consequences which may directly or indirectly influence NATO ’ s security interests . The assigned mission implies the need for each operational command to be capable of developing a military response to missions assigned to it for its expeditionary operations . The JFC Headquarters must therefore be able to mount a Combined Joint Task Force ( CJTF ) HQ , or — from within its own staff — a smaller Deployable Joint Task Force ( DJTF ) as the “ seed ” for larger command and control formations which various missions may require . Each operational command will , on a rotational basis , assume responsibility to command the NRF and , during those periods , will constantly maintain the capability of deploying a DJTF headquarters within five days of notice . Structure . At the operational level , today JFC Naples is one of three major NATO commands in Europe , the others being Joint Force Command Brunssum in the Netherlands and Joint Command Lisbon in Portugal . Twenty - two NATO nations contribute to the JFC Naples integrated military staff : Belgium , Bulgaria , Canada , Czech Republic , Denmark , Estonia , France , Germany , Greece , Hungary , Italy , Netherlands , Norway , Portugal , Poland , Romania , Slovakia , Slovenia , Spain , Turkey , United Kingdom and United States . Several Partner nations are also represented within a Partnership for Peace Staff Element . Both JFC Naples and JFC Brunssum direct three component commands for land , air and maritime operations . Allied Force Command Madrid ( CC - Land Madrid ) was established at Madrid , Spain on 1 July 2004 . The former headquarters Naval Forces Southern Europe ( NAVSOUTH ) was converted on 5 July 2004 , into the Allied Maritime Command ( MC - Mar ) Naples . Similarly , Allied Air Forces Southern Europe ( AIRSOUTH ) , previously based in Naples , was relocated to Turkey and became Allied Air Command İzmir ( CC - Air Izmir ) at Sirinyer , in the south of Izmir on 11 August 2004 . Operating under MC - Air Izmir , there are Combined Air Operations Center s ( CAOCs ) at Poggio Renatico , Italy and Larissa , Greece . With the implementation of the new NATO Command Structure ( NCS ) , the Joint Sub - Regional Commands that were established in 1999 at Izmir ( Turkey ) , Larissa ( Greece ) , Madrid ( Spain ) and Verona ( Italy ) have stood down . Also operational with the Southern Region are several NATO Headquarters , mainly responsible for security sector reform . NHQ Sarajevo is operational , and also NATO Headquarters Tirana , an outgrowth of the former KFOR Communications Zone West originally established in 1999 . Communication Zone West was retitled NHQ Tirana on 17 June 2002 , and it now performs a Defence Reform and Security Sector Reform advisory role , aiming to support the Albanian Armed Forces , now a member of NATO . In 2013 a further command structure reorganisation began to take effect . Allied Maritime Command Naples was deactivated in February – March 2013 , Allied Air Component Izmir began transition into the new Allied Land Command , and Allied Force Command Madrid was scheduled to be disestablished . From 2012 - 2013 Allied Command Operations will direct the JFCs at Brunssum and Naples , and three component commands , air at Ramstein , Germany , land at Izmir , Turkey , and naval at Northwood , UK .