Meeting with the U.S. Mission to the European Union, Brussels

Meeting with the U.S. Mission to the European Union, Brussels
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Guardians,

Catching up from Brussels after a very busy day. This morning we departed early from London and flew to Rotterdam where we met with our hard working folks at Activities Europe. I was joined by Master Chief Skip Bowen and Kirsten Madison (Director of International Affairs), We had a good inbrief from CAPT John Koster and his leadership team. It was good to see LCDR Mike Delury who I first met as the Officer in Charge of the cutter BOLLARD at Group Long Island Sound in 1993. His wife Christine and the unit Ombudsman met with Pam and Jan Bowen on work-life issues associated with living in Europe. We held an all hands and their was a lot of discussion of the high demand for Coast Guard capabilities in international programs.

We then traveled on to Brussels where we were met by our DHS Attache to NATO and the EU, Jackie Bednarz. We had good discussions with VADM Bill Sullivan, the U.S. Representative to NATO, Ambassador Ivo Daalder, U.S. Ambassador to NATO, and ADM Giampaolo DiPaola, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee. The issues discussed included piracy, maritime domain awareness, the Arctic, and small vessel security.

Moving across town we were briefed by the U.S. Mission to the EU prior to a terrific meeting with Director Generak Fokian Fotiadis, Director General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the European Commission. The main topic was our recent work with the President's Interagency Task Force on Ocean Policy with a focus on marine spatial planning. We also discussed maritime surveillance and small vessel security.

Tomorrow we will visit NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) prior to returning to London to resume meetings with the International Maritime Organization.

ADM A