Naval Station Norfolk

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Revision as of 22:46, 18 September 2009 by imported>Howard C. Berkowitz
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Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval base in the world, is geographically located in the Southeastern corner of the Commonwealth of Virginia, an area called Hampton Roads. Hampton Roads generally includes the Cities of Williamsburg, Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, and Suffolk, and is populated by over 1 million people.

Naval Station Norfolk is situated in the Sewells Point area of the City of Norfolk, near the site of the Battle of Hampton Roads. The complex is the combined home to the headquarters for Commander Naval Base Norfolk, as well as the Defense Department's largest supply center, and Naval Air Station Norfolk.

Nearby, just off Terminal Boulevard, is the headquarters compound for the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Command and the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. These two four-star admirals are responsible for the defense of the entire Atlantic area, from the North to South Pole and from the eastern United States to the west coast of Africa.

The Commander in Chief USACom also serves as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, or SACT. He is the senior military authority for all NATO land, sea and air forces in the Atlantic. The SACLant staff consists of personnel from 13 of NATO's 16 member nations, including Spain and France which have military missions on the compound. Other major U.S. commands with headquarters on the complex include the "type commanders," Commander Naval Surface Force Atlantic; Commander Naval Air Force Atlantic; Commander Submarine Force Atlantic; and Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Atlantic. Commander 2nd Fleet, one of the country's four numbered afloat fleets and a major antisubmarine warfare strike force in the Atlantic, also has headquarters in Norfolk.