Naval Station Rota, also known as NAVSTA Rota (), is a Spanish naval base, that is jointly used by the Spanish Navy and the United States Navy. 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 ...

, NAVSTA Rota is the largest American military community in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, housing U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps personnel. There are also small U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force contingents on the base.

History

The construction of the Rota Naval Base was carried out in the 19th century, being the base of the Headquarters of the Spanish Fleet.

Agreement with the Spanish dictatorship

Aircraft at Naval Station Rota in the mid-1960s

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

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

strengthened relations with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as a move to relax international sanctions imposed by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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

Polaris submarines

During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Rota became an advanced base for SSBN submarines of the U.S. Navy, which was very important as the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

was in range of Polaris missiles launched from Rota. The

Chief of Naval Operations The chief of naval operations (CNO) is the highest-ranking officer of the United States Navy. The position is a statutory office () held by an Admiral (United States), admiral who is a military adviser and deputy to the United States Secretary ...

deployed

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

Squadron 16 (SUBRON 16) to Rota on 28 January 1964 and embarked upon . completed its first Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) deterrent patrol with the Polaris 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. That transition was completed when returned to Rota on 14 January 1974.

Treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

negotiations between Spain and the United States in 1975 resulted in a planned withdrawal of SUBRON 16 from Spain, and the Chief of Naval Operations 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 region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

. The

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

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 (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

announced Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

as that new refit site.

Sea control

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 Two (VR-22). VQ-2 was based at Rota from 1959 until 2005, when it relocated to NAS Whidbey Island, Washington. VR-22 flew the

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

F and was based at Rota from 1962 until its inactivation in 1993. Through the early 1990s, a patrol squadron of P-3B and later P-3C aircraft from U.S. Navy patrol squadrons based in the United States would also be forward deployed, split-based between NAVSTA Rota and Naval Air Facility Lajes at Lajes Air Base in the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

to track Soviet naval vessels and submarines in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

and in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. When Soviet surface and submarine naval deployments to the Mediterranean increased throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, NAVSTA Rota enabled maritime patrol aircraft to conduct continuous surveillance and tracking of Soviet ships before, during, and after their transit through the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

. Data was then forwarded to

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

Headquarters, providing also critical intelligence regarding Soviet ships' acoustic signatures, operating characteristics, and warfighting capabilities. NAVSTA Rota staff's role as guardians of Sixth Fleet's front door earned them the moniker ''Gatekeepers of the Med''. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, focus shifted to adapt to the new missions of Sixth Fleet. During the

the patrol squadrons would rotate 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

End of Cold war

With the downsizing of the U.S. Navy during the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially after the end of the Cold War, the base's population dramatically declined. The U.S. 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

United States Air Force Interest

As the U.S. 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 Galaxy and C-141 Starlifter transport aircraft in the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

in 1991. During that war

B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...

bombers were stationed at nearby Morón Air Base, where detachments of USAF

KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

aerial refueling aircraft had rotated during years. Later, the U.S. agreed with Spain to improve air base installations so it could handle more cargo plane operations. In April 2011, the commander of the U.S. Navy garrison at the base, Captain William F. Mosk, was relieved of command and reassigned during an investigation into illegal drug use by U.S. 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.

Antimissile Shield

On October 5, 2011, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta announced that the U.S. Navy will station four

Aegis The aegis ( ; ''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 deity named Aex, a ...

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 weapon, nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic mi ...

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

as part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA). As of 2015, four U.S.

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

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 forced to flee from their country as a result the continuous wars that the country has suffered since the Afghan-Soviet war, the Afghan civil war, the Afghanistan war (2001–2021) or either p ...

transported by the 2021 Kabul airlift. One of the agreements that emerged from the 2022 NATO Madrid summit was to expand the U.S. destroyers stationed at the base from 4 to 6 and 600 more troops. Finally, the extension agreement was signed in May 2023.

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 as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

, U.S. Naval Activities Spain (COMNAVACTSPAIN), as well as a primary gateway for

Air Mobility Command The Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri, ...

flights into

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. Naval Station Rota is strategically located near the

and at the halfway point between the

and

Southwest Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenia ...

. Because of this ideal location, the base is able to provide invaluable support to both US Sixth Fleet 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...

s, 426 facilities and 806 family housing units. From Naval Station Rota Spain, the VLF-transmitter Guardamar, which uses Torreta de Guardamar, the tallest man-made structure in the European Union as antenna, is telecontroled. Pest management 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 and is commanded by a Spanish

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

. 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, officially the Armada, is the Navy, 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 forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

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

are not observed, such as the display of a US Flag, which is only allowed during the annual

Fourth of July Independence Day, known colloquially as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States which commemorates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing th ...

celebration or occasionally at half mast as a mark of respect with the ad-hoc 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 Force ** Naval Action Group 2 *** ''Juan Carlos I'' *** ''Galicia'' *** ''Castilla'' **Naval Action Group 1 ***41st Escort Squadron **** ''Santa María'' **** ''Victoria'' **** ''Numancia'' **** ''Reina Sofía'' **** ''Navarra'' **** ''Canarias''

U.S. Navy

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

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

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 (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

, and

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

to units in the region. The Naval Station is the only base in the Mediterranean capable of supporting Amphibious Readiness Group 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, ARG support sites at Palma de Majorca, NATO headquarters in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and the

Military Sealift Command The 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 U ...

's Maritime Prepositioning Squadron 1. The mission of U.S. Forces at Rota, as well as other U.S. Navy installations in the Mediterranean such as NAS Sigonella and Souda Air Base is to provide Command, Control and Logistics Support to US and

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, maritime surveillance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over ...

airfields to multi-role "hubs" providing crucial air-links for USAF strategic airlift and mobility in support of US European Command ( EUCOM), Central Command ( CENTCOM) and African Area contingency operations under CENTCOM, EUCOM and the evolving Africa Command (AFRICOM).

Tenant Commands and Forward-deployed ships

* Destroyer Squadron 60 (COMDESRON 60) ** (since 2020) ** (since 2021) ** (since 2022) ** (since 2022) ** (since 2024) * United States Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Eight * Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven Nine ( HSM-79) "Griffins", Flying the Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk

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, France on 29 March 2019. EU's

Operation Atalanta Operation Atalanta, formally European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia, is an ongoing 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 ...

is commanded from Naval Station Rota.

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 or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

26th MEU The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26th MEU) is one of seven such marine expeditionary units (MEUs) currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. It is an air-ground task force with a strength of about 2,400 personnel when at full ...

at Naval Station Rota () 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 was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

during his official visit to Naval Station Rota in 2016.

References

External links

Base Naval de Rota. Spanish Navy Website

U.S. Naval Station Rota, Spain 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