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Commander STRIKFORNATO, Vice Admiral Thomas E. Ishee, and the STRIKFORNATO team received the Commander-in-Chief of French Forces in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (CECMED), Vice Admiral Gilles Boidevezi, at Headquarters in Oeiras, Portugal.

During the visit, Vice Admiral Gilles Boidevezi had the opportunity to visit STRIKFORNATO’s Joint Operations Center and receive briefs on STRIKFORNATO’s future exercises, initiatives and dynamic vigilance activities: NEPTUNE STRIKE, BALTOPS and FORMIDABLE SHIELD 23. 

Fruitful discussions on the French contribution to STRIKFORANTO as part of NATO's Reinsurance Policy.

Said Vice Admiral Boidevezi, who assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief of French Forces in the Mediterranean and Black Seas (CECMED) in 2021, after having served as Deputy Chief of Staff of Aero-maritime Operations and Coordination Authority for Coast-Guard functions, Security & Defense, and Intelligence. He has been awarded Officer of the Legion of Honor and titled Commander of National Order of Merit.

STRIKFORNATO, headquartered in Oeiras, Portugal, is SACEUR’s rapidly deployable and scalable headquarters, capable of planning and executing full spectrum joint maritime operations, primarily through the integration of U.S. naval and amphibious forces, in order to provide assurance, deterrence, and collective defence for the Alliance.