16 Nov. 2005

Greece to establish maritime interdiction centre On 16 November Greece signed an agreement with NATO’s Transformation and Operational commands to establish a NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre. The Centre will lead efforts to improve the Alliance's capability to conduct interdiction operations at sea. The centre is due to reach full operational capability in December 2007. It will support both the transformation efforts led by Alliance Command Transformation and NATO’s operations run by Alliance Command Operations. It will be sponsored by Greece. The memorandum was signed by NATO's new Supreme Allied Commander Transformation U.S. Air Force General Lance L. Smith, Greek Navy Admiral Panagiotis Chinofotis, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff and U.S. Marine Corps General James L. Jones, Supreme Allied Commander Operations at the Headquarters of Alliance Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia, United States.