Naval Station Rota, Spain

U.S. Naval Station Rota (NAVSTA Rota) (ICAO: LERT) in Rota, Spain, located in the small fishing village and tourism center of Rota and near the Spanish town of El Puerto de Santa María, is the largest American military base in Spain and houses US Navy Sailors and Marines and their families. There are also small US Army and US Air Force contingents on the base.

Described by the US Navy as the "Gateway to the Mediterranean", Naval Station Rota is home to an airfield and a seaport; the airfield has often caused the base to be misidentified as "Naval Air Station Rota." The base is the headquarters for Commander, U.S. Naval Activities Spain (COMNAVACTSPAIN), as well as one of the primary gateways for Air Mobility Command flights into Europe. [http://rota.navy.mil/]

Naval Station Rota, Spain is strategically located near the Straits of Gibraltar and at the halfway point between the United States and Southwest Asia. Because of this ideal location, the base is able to provide invaluable support to both US SIXTH Fleet units in the Mediterranean and to USAF Air Mobility Command units transiting to Germany and Southwest Asia. Naval Station, Rota and its tenant commands are located within the boundaries of the 6,100 acre Spanish 'Base Naval de Rota.' Under the guidance of the Agreement for Defense Cooperation, the US and Spanish navies work together and share many facilities. The US Navy has the responsibility for maintaining the station's infrastructure, including a 670-acre airfield, three active piers, 426 facilities and 806 family housing units. [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/rota.htm Naval Station Rota ] ]

Naval Station Rota provides support for US and NATO ships; supports the safe and efficient movement of US Navy and US Air Force flights and passengers; and provides cargo, fuel, and ammunition to units in the region. The Naval Station is the only base in the Mediterranean capable of supporting Amphibious Readiness Group post-deployment wash-downs. The base port also offers secure, pier side maintenance and backload facilities. Rota supports Amphibious Readiness Group turnovers and hosts Sailors and Marines from visiting afloat units. The base also provides Quality of Life support to Moron Air Base, ARG support sites at Palma de Majorca, NATO headquarters in Madrid and the Military Sealift Command's Maritime Prepositioning Squadron. Rota also supports NASA Space Shuttle missions, and ongoing operations in the European theater of operations.

The mission of US Forces at Rota, as well as other US Navy installations in the Mediterranean such as NAS Sigonella, Italy and Naval Air Facility Souda Bay, Crete, is to provide Command, Control and Logistics Support to US and NATO Operating Forces. These three facilities are undergoing a transformation from Maritime Patrol Aircraft airfields to Multi-role “Hubs” providing crucial air-links for USAF strategic airlift and mobility in support of US European Command (EUCOM), US Central Command (CENTCOM) and African Area contingency operations under CENTCOM, EUCOM and the evolving US Africa Command (AFRICOM) .

NAVSTA Rota has been in use since 1953 when Spanish leader Francisco Franco strengthened relations with the Americans to improve local economies. The installation now covers more than 6,000 acres on the northern shore of Cadiz, an area recognized for its strategic, maritime importance over the centuries.

The Chief of Naval Operations deployed Commander, Submarine Squadron 16 (COMSUBRON 16) to Rota, Spain, on 28 January 1964 and embarked upon USS Proteus (AS-19). USS Lafayette (SSBN 616) completed its first Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) deterrent patrol with the Polaris missile and commenced the first refit and replenishment at Rota. During the early 1970s, the submarines assigned to Squadron 16 were completing conversion to the Poseidon missile. That transition was completed when USS Francis Scott Key (SSBN 657) returned to Rota on 14 January 1974. Treaty negotiations between Spain and the United States in 1975 resulted in a planned withdrawal of COMSUBRON 16 from Spain, and the Chief of Naval Operations ordered studies to select a new refit site on the East Coast. The treaty with Spain was ratified by the US Congress in June 1976 and called for the withdrawal of the squadron from Spain by July 1979. Kings Bay, Georgia, was selected as that new refit site, and the site selected was announced by the Secretary of the Navy in November 1976.

At its peak size in the early 1980s, NAVSTA Rota was home to 16,000 sailors and their families, to include two permanently forward deployed aviation squadrons, Fleet Reconnaissance Squadron TWO (VQ-2) and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron TWENTY TWO (VR-22). VQ-2 was based at Rota from 1959 until 2005, when it relocated to NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. During VQ-2's tenure at Rota, it flew the P4M Mercator, EC-121 Super Constellation, EA-3 Skywarrior, and the and EP-3 Aries aircraft. [ [http://vq-2.ahf.nmci.navy.mil/index.htm Home ] ] VR-22 flew the C-130F and was based at Rota from 1982 until its inactivation in 1992. Through the early 1990s, a patrol squadron of P-3 Orion aircraft based in the United States would also be split-based between NAVSTA Rota and the Naval Air Facility at Lajes Air Base in the Azores in order to track Soviet naval vessels and submarines transiting the Atlantic and into and out of the Mediterranean. The patrol squadrons would rotate assignment to Rota and Lajes every six months and were augmented by Naval Air Reserve patrol squadrons for shorter durations on a periodic basis.

With the downsizing of the US Navy during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially after the end of the Cold War, the base's population dramatically declined. The US Navy maintains approximately 5,200 acres of the 6,000-acre complex. There are about 8,000 Americans in Rota, including military, civilians, and their families.

The base is used jointly by Spain and the United States. It remains under the Spanish flag and is commanded by a Spanish Vice Admiral. While the Spanish Navy is responsible for external security of the base, both Navies are charged with internal security. NAVSTA Rota is technically a tenant facility of the Rota Spanish Navy base. As such, certain U.S. military customs are not observed, such as the display of a U.S. Flag, which is only allowed during the annual Fourth of July celebration.

References

External links

* [http://www.rota.navy.mil]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/rota.htm Globalsecurity.org]
* [http://vq-2.ahf.nmci.navy.mil/index.htm VQ-2 Homepage]