§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What forces other than NATO the United States Admiral in Naples who is NATO Commander, Southern Europe has under his command in the Mediterranean area, including Albania, the Middle East and the Gulf; what collaboration there is between his two roles; and what happens when he gets conflicting orders from the United States Commander in Chief and from the NATO Council.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyApart from NATO-assigned forces, the NATO commander in Naples, CINCSOUTH, also has command over all United States ships in Europe. He has delegated his command over United States ships in the Gulf to the regional commander there. He has no command over land or air forces other than those assigned to NATO.
There is no conflict between CINCSOUTH's two roles as United States and NATO commander. In order to avoid any potential conflict in the context of the NATO/WEU arms embargo enforcement operation in the Adriatic (Operation Sharp Guard), the United States President issued a directive that all United States officers in NATO command posts should give priority to NATO orders.