Allied Joint Force Command Naples Allied Joint Force Command Naples Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Naples (JFC Naples) is a NATO military command based in Lago Patria, in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy—the base was formerly located in the Bagnoli quarter of Naples. It was activated on 15 March 2004, after what was effectively a redesignation of its predecessor command, Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH), originally formed in 1951. AFSOUTH in NATO Military Command Structure terms was a "Major Subordinate Command". Commander JFC Naples reports to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Casteau, Belgium. Originally, Allied Forces Southern Europe
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe was shunted aside in favor of Air Force general Joseph Ralston. Although the move was publicly characterized as a purely administrative move necessitated by Clark's approaching retirement and the lack of an open four-star slot for the highly respected Ralston [a reality which would have compelled him to either accept a temporary demotion to two-star rank or retire from the service], Clark's relief has been often seen as a slap at the general on the part of a Pentagon leadership that had been very much at odds with him during the Kosovo war the previous spring. From the early 2000s