;USS MOUNT WHITNEY (LCC/JCC-20) -- Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) commander, Maj. Gen. John F. Sattler met with the new commander of the naval flotilla Combined Task Force -150 (CTF-150), Rear Adm. Rinaldo Veri, Feb. 7 at the CJTF-HOA headquarters aboard USS Mount Whitney in the Gulf of Aden.
Italy's Rear Adm. Veri recently took command of the international force of warships from Spanish Rear Adm. Juan A. Moreno. Veri, whose flagship, ITS Mimbelli recently arrived on-station in the Gulf of Aden, is charged with leading the ten-ship naval task force comprised of forces from Italy, France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States.
Sattler and Veri discussed on-going operations in the Horn of Africa region, security cooperation and the process for expanding information sharing between the two combined task forces.
The two headquarters have been exchanging operational information over the past month since conducting a command and control, firing and maneuver exercise together earlier in the year. The January exercise focused on communications interoperability, and was the first in a planned series of exercises and operations between CJTF-HOA and CTF-150 forces.
CTF-150's Global War on Terrorism mission is focused on searching for terrorist operatives and contraband while patrolling the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean areas around the Horn of Africa.
The mission of CJTF-HOA is to detect, disrupt and defeat transnational terrorist groups in the Horn of Africa region. CJTF-HOA is also working closely with coalition partners to establish conditions leading to long-term stability within the region, thus denying the opportunity for reemergence of terrorist networks.
For its mission, CJTF-HOA defines the Horn of Africa region as the total airspace, land areas and adjacent waters of Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and Yemen.
The CJTF headquarters was formed to oversee operations in the region for U.S. Central Command, in support of the Global War on Terrorism. The headquarters staff, aboard one of the U.S. Navy's most sophisticated command and control ships, USS
Mount Whitney, has about 400 members from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces,
civilian representatives and Coalition partner personnel. CJTF-HOA also has nearly 1,300 personnel stationed ashore at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti and a small number of liaison personnel working in other parts of the region.