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Commander Submarines NATO visits Reykjavik

REYKJAVIK, Iceland –Commander Submarines NATO, RDML Matt Zirkle, United States Navy, visited Reykjavik, Iceland August 11-13 to meet with various Icelandic officials to bring a renewed awareness of NATO’s commitment to all members including Iceland.

During the visit, RDML Zirkle met with Arnór Sigurjónsson, Director of Security and Defense at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where they discussed future opportunities for Iceland and the NATO Maritime units to work closely together.

"Iceland has been a valuable NATO ally for nearly 70 years,’’ said RDML Zirkle. "We are exploring opportunities for closer cooperation with them on maritime training and other activities in this strategically important region.’’

RDML Zirkle’s visit included a tour of NAS Keflavik and a visit to Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) whose port visit to Reykjavik paralleled.  SNMG1 currently consists of Portuguese Navy ship NRP AVLERES CABRAL and Spanish Navy ship ESPS MENDEZ NUNEZ, which acts as the flagship for the Group. SNMG1 is under the command of RDML José Enrique Delgado, Spanish Navy.

Iceland is one of the 12 founding members of NATO which dates to 1949. NATO currently has 28 member nations.