New commander of U.S. Navy Europe says there ‘is much work ahead’

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New commander of U.S. Navy Europe says there ‘is much work ahead’
By Lisa M. Novak, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, December 1, 2007

NAPLES, Italy — Adm. Mark P. Fitzgerald took command of Allied Joint Force Command Naples/U.S. Naval Forces Europe during a ceremony Friday at the NATO base here.

Fitzgerald took the reins from Adm. Harry G. Ulrich, who is retiring after 35 years of service.

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Speaking at the ceremony, Army Gen. John Craddock, supreme allied commander in Europe and commander of U.S. European Command, recounted a few of Ulrich’s accomplishments over the past 2½ years in Naples.

“He is indeed the orchestrator of many of the operations ongoing, from western Balkans operations … to the NATO training mission in Iraq, where he has taken a concept and put it into operations, and successfully parleyed that to over 2,500 Iraqis trained there and thousands of Iraqi leaders trained outside of that country.”

As Ulrich addressed the crowd, which included military and diplomatic staff, as well as family and friends, he recalled his time in Europe. Ulrich has served as commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet; commander of Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO; and commander of Allied Joint Command Lisbon.

He said it was important to recognize how globalization has affected how the Navy operates.

“We essentially changed our focus from defense to security. … To bring security to our citizens will require as many partners as we can gather. Not only with military folks but with law enforcement agencies, commercial businesses, NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) and other international organizations.”


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50654