Italy is our single most important ally in Europe for
projecting military power into the Mediterranean, North
Africa, and the Middle East. Five major Italian military
base complexes (Naples, Sigonella, Camp Darby, Vicenza and
Aviano) host approximately 13,000 U.S. military and DOD
civilian personnel, 16,000 family members, and 4,000 Italian
employees. Increases or changes in this basing footprint can
be controversial with local politicians and we rely on
Italian political support at the highest levels, as we did.
GOI approval and support for the expansion project at Dal
Molin Airfield in Vicenza to accommodate the consolidation of
the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team is a positive example
of this sort of collaboration.
We may require La Russa's
help in the near future with a range of basing problems (
)
including our request for GOI formal recognition of the
leased Navy Support Site at Gricignano (Naples) as a military
base under the NATO SOFA and Bilateral Infrastructure
Agreement, and approval for the construction of the Navy's
Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) global satellite
communications system at the Navy Radio Transmitter Facility
in Niscemi, Sicily. La Russa has, at our request, made
helpful public statements on the MUOS issue in the past. A
signal from you that we value his support in this regard
would help to focus his attention on the often arcane
technical and legal issues surrounding our military presence
in Italy.