U.S. Military Bases in Italy.

 The focus of my blog today is going to the U.S. Military bases in Italy. The American military has a total of six active military bases in Italy. Four of these bases are Navy, two are Army, and one is Air Force. One of these bases is on the Italian island of Sicily and the American military formerly had a base on the Italian island of Sardinia which is closed. 

The point of this blog will be to show how American military bases in Italy were a product of the post WWII world and also a product of the Cold War. These bases were all built from 1951-1967 during the height of the Cold War to counteract Soviet influence in the Mediterranean. Post- WWII there was a growing communist party in Italy that had a chance to take power in the country. Due to the dismal economic conditions post WWII there was a chance that this communist party could win in the election of 1948. The CIA influenced the election and made sure the communists didn’t take power in Italy. After World War II, the United States was the only major power that was not completely devastated by war, and established the Marshall Plan in order to provide funds to rebuild Europe. It was in American interest to rebuild European nations like Italy and get the nations under American capitalist economic influence. On the other hand, It was in Soviet interest to keep European nations poor in order to create such an awful situation that they would fall to communism and Soviet influence. If the communists had won the election in Italy, the United States said they would pull all Marshall Plan funds out of the country. 

During the Cold War, the United States Military built these bases in Italy to prevent Soviet expansion and influence in the region. Italy was seen as a good halfway point between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. was determined to utilize these bases as a way to solidify American influence in the region. These actions can be seen as cultural and economic imperialism, though in my opinion a better alternative to Soviet influence in the region which would have resulted in economic disaster for the Italians. 

The Navy has a total of three bases in Italy. The NSA Gaeta Navy Base and the NSA Naples Navy Base are located close to each other in Southern Italy. The Naples base is especially large, housing 10,000 servicemen and a military college on base. These bases act as stopovers for U.S. military personnel during the Vietnam War, Korean War, Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan. 

The Navy also has a military base on the Italian island of Sicily called the NAS Sigonella Navy Base. This base was established in 1959, the U.S. was trying to gain economic influence in Malta and had established a base there. Basically the U.S. government ran out of room on the Malta base and so opened a new base in Sicily to store access equipment. A couple of major events have occurred on this base, the 2011 invasion of Libya that resulted in Gaddafi’s death was launched from Sigonella, and a flood occurred in 2005 resulting in the evacuation of 400 personnel. The United States Navy used to have a military base on the Italian island of Sardinia. This base housed a nuclear submarine in 2003 and instantly became deeply unpopular with the locals. Local Sardinian politicians and citizens expressed concerns of the environmental damage of housing nuclear weapons and negative impacts on tourism (Wingfield). The base closed in 2005 after negotiations between Italy and the United States. 

The United States Army has two bases in Northern Italy. Established in 1951, the Camp Darby base in Tirreana, Italy is the oldest U.S. base in Italy. Post WWII Italy and the U.S. signed a treaty allowing the Americans access to a sliver of land near Livarno to build a base. As a defeated power, Italy had very little choice but to comply with this demand. The base contains a hospital unit and a mobile hospital unit which can respond anywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere within 18 hours. The other Army base is Caserma Edele Army Base in Vicenza, Italy. During the 1980s, “its main goal was to protect the Alpine Bases from Soviet Invasion” (US Military Bases), representing clear U.S. Cold War policy. Caserma currently houses the headquarters for the United States Army Africa, this makes it one of the most important bases for the U.S. military. The United States Air Force has a base in Aviano, Italy. This base has been an Italian base since 1911, which was captured by Allied forces during World War II. In 1955, the U.S. and Italy agreed on a joint operation on the base. The base played a major part during Desert Storm, housing reserves. 

Overall, these bases were built during a time when the U.S. was the most powerful nation on Earth. These bases were a result of American economic and cultural imperialism in Italy post WWII. In the current political climate, Italy is very much a capitalist nation and our close ally. It is my personal opinion that all bases should be closed except for Aviano and Caserma. Aviano is a jointly run base with Italy and therefore appropriate. Caserma is crucial to the American military due to its role as America’s Headquarter for Africa. These bases could be expanded at their present location in order to consolidate the activities of the other less necessary bases. 

Work Cited: 

“US Military Bases - Air Force Bases, Army Bases, Navy Bases, Marine.” Military Bases, 25 May 2018, militarybases.com/.  

Wingfield, Brian. “U.S. to Shut Base in Italy That Aids Nuclear Subs.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Nov. 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/11/25/world/europe/us-to-shut-base-in-italy-that-aids-nuclear-subs.html.