The Ambassador visited during the execution phase of Formidable Shield 23 (FOSH23), a biennial integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) exercise, planned by US 6th Fleet and executed by STRIKFORNATO. Involving a series of live-fire events against subsonic, supersonic, and ballistic missile targets, FOSH23 incorporates a myriad of Allied ships, aircraft, and ground forces working across battlespaces from Northern Norway down to Western Scotland.
The Ambassador received briefs on STRIKFORNATO’s mission and the execution of FOSH23. The Honorable Randi Charno Levine experienced first-hand unprecedented NATO cohesion and capability, combining state-of-the-art technologies and warfighting skills. Events like these in Europe, demonstrate the Alliance commitment to ensuring security and stability in this challenging and vital region of the world.
The United States Ambassador, the Honorable Randi Charno Levine, signing the Book of Honour, while visiting STRIKFORNATO Headquarters, in Oeiras, Portugal.
Nominated by President Biden to serve as Ambassador to Portugal in November 2021, Randi Charno Levine was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in March and undertook duties as of April 2022. A national advocate for the arts, cultural diplomacy leader, and philanthropist, Ambassador Charno Levine looks forward to enhancing the long-standing diplomatic, commercial, educational, cultural and defense collaborations between Portugal and the United States.
Both countries, lying on opposite shores of the Atlantic, were amongst the founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Today, the signatures on the Washington Treaty from the delegates sent by the United States and Portugal remind us of how NATO, as the most unified and successful Alliance in History, is showing, once again, its pledge to the defence and stability of all its nations.