Commander pays visit to Navy cruiser

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Capt. Matthew Sharpe, left, commanding oficer of the USS San Jacinto, explains upgrades made to San Jacinto to Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, commander, Naval Forces Europe while touring the guided missile cruiser on Wednesday.


Commander pays visit to Navy cruiser
Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, January 13, 2008

NAPLES, Italy — The new commander for Naval Forces Europe, Adm. Mark Fitzgerald, stopped by a visiting guided missile cruiser and talked about his strategic vision for the coming year.

The USS San Jacinto was in Naples on Wednesday for a port visit. The ship deployed with the USS Harry S. Truman Battle Group in November, and has since served as one of the platforms for the Navy’s Africa Partnership Station.

During an address to the crew, Fitzgerald spoke of the importance of maintaining well-established relationships in Europe, while also building new alliances.

“We’re focused south. We’re focused east,” Fitzgerald said. “We have to make sure we maintain our enduring partnerships in Europe, but we’ve got to be able to reach out and be able to prevent that next war.

“By doing this engagement that we’re doing in Africa, the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean, we start to develop the partnerships necessary for the future.”


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51601