Allied Land Command
| Allied Land Command | |
|---|---|
Coat of arms
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| Active | 2012-present |
| Allegiance |  North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
| Location | Vecihi Akin Garrison, Şirinyer, İzmir, Turkey |
| Commanders | |
| Commander | Lieutenant General Darryl A. Williams |
| Deputy Commander | Lieutenant General Paolo Ruggiero |
| Chief of Staff | MG Salih Sevil |
Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) is the standing headquarters for NATO land forces which may be assigned as necessary. The Commander LANDCOM is the prime land warfare advisor to the Alliance. When directed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, it provides the core of the headquarters responsible for the conduct of land operations. The command is based at Şirinyer (Buca), İzmir in Turkey.
NATO has had a headquarters at Izmir for decades. Initially the organization there was Allied Land Forces South-Eastern Europe (LANDSOUTHEAST), responsible to Allied Forces Southern Europe at Naples. Under this command, with its headquarters in Izmir assisted by the subordinate Thessaloniki Advanced Command Post, were to be most of the Greek and Turkish armies in case of war. LANDSOUTHEAST was commanded by a United States Army lieutenant general:
In 1966 the first major change occurred when French military personnel were withdrawn from LANDSOUTHEAST, followed by the Greek withdrawal in 1974. On 30 December 1977, SHAPE and Turkish military authorities announced another change in the command structure of LANDSOUTHEAST, to be effective 1 July 1978. The command billet was to be filled by a Turkish Army four star general with a U.S. Major General as his deputy. U.S. General Sam S. Walker took command in 1977, and On 30 June 1978, General Walker handed over the command to General , the first Turkish commander. General Akın held command until 30 August 1979.
Construction of a new headquarters facility in Sirinyer, Izmir was completed in March 1994 and LANDSOUTHEAST moved into the facility in April 1994. In July 1994, two German Army officers were assigned to the command for the first time. The headquarters garrison at Sirinyer was named General Vecihi Akin Garrison in March 1996, after the first Turkish LANDSOUTHEAST Commander. Turkish Land Forces General Hüseyin Kıvrıkoğlu commanded LANDSOUTHEAST from c.1993-1996, followed by Hilmi Özkök from 1996-1998.
After the end of the Cold War, for a period the NATO command in Izmir became Joint Command Southeast. Between 11 August 2004 and 1 June 2013 the headquarters of NATO's Allied Air Component Command in the south, formerly known as AIRSOUTH, was located in İzmir.
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