Story by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark Patton
NAPLES, Italy – The NATO Strategic Direction South Hub announces its online presence today with a new website, one week prior to celebrating its physical unveiling on Sept. 5, 2017.
The NSD-S Hub, under the roof and lead of JFC Naples, is designed to analyze a variety of complex issues to include destabilization, potential terrorism, radicalization, migration and environmental concerns. The new center will concentrate on southern regions to include the Middle East, North Africa and Sahel, sub-Saharan Africa and adjacent areas, waters and airspace.
The Hub aims to foster relationships and work with agencies outside of traditional NATO military structures such as regional development and crisis handling experts, academics, charitable organizations, law enforcement officials and non-governmental organizations.
Hub officials stress that the new center is not a counterterrorism organization or an intelligence fusion center, and they say the NSD-S Hub is designed to take information and analysis that exists and transform it into knowledge and information even more useful to stakeholders.
The Hub is scheduled to reach final capability by the end of the calendar year.
"The Hub is just one of the many ways that we’re hoping we can contribute to a better understanding among partners and stakeholders as to what the actual situation is in the Middle East/North Africa and then explore opportunities for common solution sets and common goals,” said U.S. Navy Admiral Michelle Howard, commander of JFC Naples.