Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota ( es, Base Naval de Rota, links=no), is a Spanish-American naval base commanded by a Spanish

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

. Located in Rota in the

Province of Cádiz Cádiz is a Provinces of Spain, province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of conti ...

, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military community in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, housing

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

and

US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

personnel. There are also small

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

contingents on the base.

History

Aircraft at Naval Station Rota in the mid-1960s

NAVSTA Rota has been in use since 1953, when Spanish dictator

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...

strengthened relations with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

as a move to relax international sanctions imposed by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

since 1945. The installation now covers more than on the northern shore of Cadiz, an area recognized for its strategic, maritime importance over the centuries. Spanish carrier Dedalo at Naval Station Rota 1976

Spanish carrier Dedalo at Naval Station Rota 1976

The

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the professional head of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the secretary of the Navy. In a separate capacity as a memb ...

deployed

Submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

Squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

16 (SUBRON 16) to Rota on 28 January 1964 and embarked upon . completed its first

Fleet Ballistic Missile A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead a ...

(FBM) deterrent patrol with the

Polaris missile The UGM-27 Polaris missile was a two-stage solid-fueled nuclear-armed submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM). As the United States Navy's first SLBM, it served from 1961 to 1980. In the mid-1950s the Navy was involved in the Jupiter missile ...

and commenced the first refit and replenishment at Rota. During the early 1970s, the submarines assigned to SUBRON 16 were completing conversion to the

Poseidon missile Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

. That transition was completed when returned to Rota on 14 January 1974.

Treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations An international organization or international o ...

negotiations between Spain and the United States in 1975 resulted in a planned withdrawal of SUBRON 16 from Spain, and the

ordered studies to select a new refit site on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the coa ...

. The

US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

ratified the treaty in June 1976; it called for the squadron's withdrawal from Spain by July 1979. In November 1976 the

Secretary of the Navy The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense. By law, the se ...

announced

Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay is a base of the United States Navy located adjacent to the city of St. Marys in Camden County, Georgia, on the North River in southeastern Georgia, and 38 miles (61 km) from Jacksonville, Florida. The Submari ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

as that new refit site. At its peak size in the early 1980s, NAVSTA Rota was home to 16,000 sailors and their families, to include two permanently forward deployed aviation squadrons, Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ-2) and Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Twenty four(VR-24). VQ-2 was based at Rota from 1959 until 2005, when it relocated to

NAS Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a naval air station of the United States Navy located on two pieces of land near Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington. The main portion of the base, Ault Field, is about ...

, Washington. VR-24 flew the

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...

F and was based at Rota from 1962 until its inactivation in 1993. Through the early 1990s, a patrol squadron of

P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner.

in the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

to track Soviet naval vessels and submarines in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and in the Mediterranean. The patrol squadrons would rotate this deployment assignment to Rota and Lajes every six months and were augmented by Naval Air Reserve patrol squadrons for shorter durations on a periodic basis. Warships at Naval Station Rota in 1981

With the downsizing of the US Navy during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially after the end of the Cold War, the base's population dramatically declined. The US Navy maintains approximately of the complex. There are about 4,000 Americans in Rota, including military, civilians, and their families. Buques en la base naval de Rota

As the US Navy started to reduce its presence, the USAF realized the potential of the airfield as a refueling stop in Middle East deployments. Rota was used by C-5 and C-141 planes in the Gulf War in 1991. Later, the US agreed with Spain to improve air base installations so it could handle more cargo plane operations. In April 2011, the commander of the US Navy garrison at the base, Captain William F. Mosk, was relieved of command and reassigned during an investigation into illegal drug use by US servicemen at the installation. Rear Admiral Tony Gaiani relieved Mosk for "lost confidence in his ability to command", specifically, to handle issues related to the investigation. On October 5, 2011, US Secretary of Defense Panetta announced that the USN will station four

Aegis The aegis ( ; grc, αἰγίς ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a d ...

warships at Rota to strengthen its presence in the Mediterranean Sea and bolster the

missile defense Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...

of NATO as part of the

European Phased Adaptive Approach The NATO missile defense system is a missile defense system being constructed by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in several member states and around the Mediterranean Sea. Plans for this system have changed several times since firs ...

(EPAA). As of 2015, four US

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s, including , , , and are permanently forward-deployed to Naval Station Rota as part of the Missile Defense System. In 2021 the base temporarily hosted thousands of

Afghan refugees Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were compelled to abandon their country as a result of major wars, persecution, torture or genocide. The 1978 Saur Revolution followed by the 1979 Soviet invasion marked the first wave of inter ...

transported by the 2021 Kabul airlift. One of the agreements that emerged from the 2022 NATO Madrid summit was to expand the US destroyers stationed at the base from 4 to 6 and 600 more troops.

Overview

Naval Station Rota is home to an airfield and a seaport; the airfield has often caused the base to be misidentified as "Naval Air Station Rota". The base is the headquarters for

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

, US Naval Activities Spain (COMNAVACTSPAIN), as well as a primary gateway for

Air Mobility Command Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri. Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992, and was formed from elements ...

flights into

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Naval Station Rota is strategically located near the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Medi ...

and at the halfway point between the

and

Southwest Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Anat ...

. Because of this ideal location, the base is able to provide invaluable support to both

US Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

units in the Mediterranean and to USAF

units transiting to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Southwest Asia. The Base and its tenant commands are located within the boundaries of the Spanish "Base Naval de Rota". Under the guidance of the Agreement for Defense Cooperation, the US and Spanish navies work together and share many facilities. The US Navy has the responsibility for maintaining the station's infrastructure, including a airfield, three active

pier image:Brighton Pier, Brighton, East Sussex, England-2Oct2011 (1).jpg, Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of ...

s, 426 facilities and 806 family housing units. From Naval Station Rota Spain, the VLF-transmitter Guardamar, which uses

Torreta de Guardamar Torreta de Guardamar (, ) or Torre de los Americanos is a 380-metre tall guyed mast, guyed radio mast erected by the US Navy near Guardamar del Segura, Spain. It was built in 1962 and is the tallest architectural structure in both the Iberian pen ...

, the tallest man-made structure in the European Union as antenna, is telecontroled.

Pest management Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest (organism), pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage don ...

is performed by a combination of Navy personnel, and local contractors who must be licensed by the host country (Spain).

Occupants

The base is used jointly by Spain and the United States. It remains under the

Spanish flag The national flag of Spain ( es, Bandera de España), as it is defined in the Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle ...

and is commanded by a Spanish Vice Admiral. While the Spanish Navy is responsible for external security of the base, both Navies are charged with internal security. NAVSTA Rota is technically a tenant facility of the Rota

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

base. As a result, certain

US military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

are not observed, such as the display of a

US Flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

, which is only allowed during the annual

Fourth of July Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...

celebration or occasionally at half mast as a mark of respect with the

ad-hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

permission of the Spanish Admiral.

Spanish Navy

This Base houses the Fleet Headquarters and the Naval Action Force, as well as the main operational units of the Navy: Naval Action Group 2, Aircraft Flotilla, 41st Escort Squadron.

Deployed ships

* Naval Action Group 2 ** Juan Carlos I (L-61) ** Galicia (L51) ** Castilla (L52) * 41st Escort Squadron ** Santa María frigate (F81) ** Victoria frigate (F82) ** Numancia frigate (F83) ** Reina Sofía frigate (F-84) ** Navarra frigate (F85) ** Canarias frigate (F86)

US Navy

Naval Station Rota provides support for US and NATO ships; supports the safe and efficient movement of US Navy and US Air Force flights and

passengers A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

; and provides

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

, and

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

to units in the region. The Naval Station is the only base in the Mediterranean capable of supporting

Amphibious Readiness Group An amphibious ready group (ARG) of the United States Navy consists of a naval element—a group of warships known as an Amphibious Task Force (ATF)—and a landing force (LF) of U.S. Marines (and occasionally U.S. Army soldiers), in total about ...

post-deployment wash-downs. The base port also offers secure, pier-side maintenance and back-load facilities. Rota supports Amphibious Readiness Group turnovers and hosts Sailors and Marines from visiting afloat units. The base also provides

Quality of Life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

support to

Morón Air Base Morón Air Base is located at in southern Spain, approximately southeast of the city of Seville. The base gets its name from the nearby town of Morón de la Frontera while is located inside Arahal municipality territory. Currently the bas ...

, ARG support sites at

Palma de Majorca Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...

, NATO headquarters in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and the

Military Sealift Command Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

's Maritime Prepositioning Squadron 1. The mission of US Forces at Rota, as well as other US Navy installations in the Mediterranean such as

NAS Sigonella Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella is an Italian Air Force base ('' it, Aeroporto "Cosimo Di Palma" di Sigonella''), and a U.S. Navy installation at Italian Air Force Base Sigonella in Sicily, Italy. The whole NAS is a tenant of the Italian Air ...

and

Souda Air Base Chania International Airport "Daskalogiannis" is an international airport located near Souda Bay on the Akrotiri peninsula of the Greek island of Crete, serving the city of Chania, away. It is a gateway to western Crete for an increasing numb ...

is to provide Command, Control and Logistics Support to US and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

Operating Forces. These three facilities are undergoing a transformation from

Maritime Patrol Aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles ...

airfields to multi-role “hubs” providing crucial air-links for USAF

strategic airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distance ...

and mobility in support of

US European Command The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territorie ...

(

EUCOM The United States European Command (EUCOM) is one of the eleven Unified Combatant Command, unified combatant commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers and 51 countries and territorie ...

), Central Command (

CENTCOM The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...

) and African Area contingency operations under CENTCOM, EUCOM and the evolving Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Tenant Commands and Forward-deployed ships

Destroyer Squadron 60 Destroyer Squadron 60 (DESRON 60) is a destroyer squadron of the United States Navy. Destroyer Squadron 60 is one of three U.S. Navy destroyer squadrons permanently based outside the continental United States. World War Two During World War Two, ...

(COMDESRON 60) ** ** ** ** *

United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians render safe all types of ordnance, including improvised, chemical, biological, and nuclear. They perform land and underwater location, identification, render-safe, and recovery (or dispo ...

Mobile Unit Eight * Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven Nine (

HSM-79 Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven Nine (HSM-79) "Griffins" is a United States Navy helicopter squadron based at Naval Air Station North Island, California, United States. The unit operates the Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk which provides deplo ...

) "Griffins", Flying the

Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificatio ...

Operational Headquarters for the EU Naval Force

The Operational Headquarters (OHQ) for the EU Naval Force moved from Northwood, UK to Rota and to

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, France on 29 March 2019. EU's

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is a current counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean, that is the first naval operation conducted by the E ...

is commanded from Naval Station Rota.

Opposition

Since the 1980s, various leftist and activist

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

groups have marched annually to protest the presence of US and

Spanish military The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Constitution o ...

personnel and equipment at the port of Rota. The most common path marches alongside the seaside streets of the town to protest at the individual US (NAVSTA Rota), Spanish ('' Base Naval de Rota'') and joint gates, where representatives of the groups read proclamations in favour of peace and freedom.

Gallery

File:USS Ross (DDG 71) Conducting Naval Operations 170329-N-FQ994-073.jpg, Conducting Naval Operations File:Ship LPD-Castilla-(L52).jpg, Galicia-class ''Castilla'' of the Spanish Navy based at Rota File:US Navy 111121-N-TM034-133 Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO) Adm. Mark Ferguson, center, meets with Spanish navy rear admirals.jpg, (VCNO) Adm. Mark Ferguson, center, meets with Spanish navy Vice Adm. Juan Rodriguez-Garat, left, and Spanish navy Rear Adm. Juan Ruiz-Casas at Naval Station Rota File:26th MEU Wash Down at Naval Station Rota, Spain 131019-M-SO289-014.jpg, The

USMC The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through co ...

's 26th MEU at Naval Station Rota (

USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) USS ''Kearsarge'' (LHD-3) is the third of the United States Navy. She is the fifth ship to bear that name, but the fourth to serve under it, as the third was renamed before launching (after the prior was sunk). Namesake Named in honor of , ...

) File:President Barack Obama is greeted by U.S. and Spanish service members along with their families during his visit to Naval Station Rota (28191347486).jpg, U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

during his official visit to Naval Station Rota in 2016.

References

External links

Base Naval de Rota. Spanish Navy Website

; Video links * {{authority control Naval Stations of the United States Navy 1953 establishments in Spain Airports in Andalusia Buildings and structures in Andalusia Military installations established in 1953 Spanish Navy bases Spain–United States military relations