EU Naval Force Operation Commander Visits EU Training Mission Somalia

Earlier in November, the Operation Commander (OpComd) of EU Naval forces, Major General Rob Magowan met Brigadier General Pietro Addis (Italian Army) the Head of the EU Training Mission in Somalia.

During the visit the General took the opportunity to introduce the next EU NAVFOR OpComd, Maj Gen Charlie Stickland, who is due to take command of EU NAVFOR on 7th November 2017.

Both Generals then toured the facility to see the training taking place firsthand.

Whilst the key roles for Operation Atalanta are to protect World Food Programme vessels carrying humanitarian aid to the Somali people and to deter and disrupt pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, Operation Atalanta’s warships also provide support to other EU missions in the Horn of Africa.

These missions include EUCAP Somalia, which is helping to improve the Somali maritime civilian law enforcement capacity and EUTM Somalia, whose staff contributes to the capacity building of Somali National Army.