Carney Park, Naval Support Activity Naples' recreation area in Pozzuoli, Italy. Students with Chinese citizenship were barred from entering the facility recently during a visit by an international school. The Navy attributed the action to an administrative error. (Stars and Stripes)
NAPLES, Italy — A U.S. Navy base in Italy is considering easing access to a recreational park after an approved visit by a local international school was abruptly canceled when students with Chinese citizenship were barred from entry.
Naval Support Activity Naples officials are discussing whether some rules related to the accessing of base facilities, such as operational or residential sites, should uniformly apply to its 93-acre recreation and lodging park, which also hosts community events, said Lt. Cody Milam, a spokesman for NSA Naples.
Those talks include evaluating whether requirements, such as heightened scrutiny of Designated Third Country Nationals, or DTCN, could be eased at Adm. Robert B. Carney Park “to facilitate more engagements with our local community,” said Milam, who added that the safety and security of everyone using the park would remain the top priority.
Carney Park is situated in the crater of an extinct volcano in the town of Pozzuoli, about 14 miles from NSA Naples’ administrative site near the Naples International Airport.
The base’s response comes after the Chinese students were denied access May 23 as part of a group of 600 children, teachers and parents visiting from the International School of Naples for Sports Day.
Carney Park, Naval Support Activity Naples' recreation area in Pozzuoli, Italy, seen in a screenshot from a Navy MWR Naples video. Students with Chinese citizenship were barred from entering the facility recently during a visit by an international school. The Navy apologized, citing an administrative error, and is discussing whether to revise its procedures. (Navy MWR Naples)
Security officials at the park reviewed the school’s paperwork and discovered that the Chinese students’ names were missing from an approved access letter.
Instead, their names were on a second letter, which had not been properly routed and was missing specific DTCN paperwork, according to a base statement Friday.
It wasn’t clear by Monday when the names of the Chinese students were separated and who made the decision to do so. It also wasn’t certain when the school submitted the names of all students attending the event to Morale, Welfare and Recreation staff.
But the oversight resulted from a lack of “coordination and communication” by the base, Milam said.
“NSA Naples deeply regrets the administrative error that prevented students with Chinese citizenship from engaging in their school-sponsored activity at Carney Park,” the Navy statement said. “The base is actively engaged with The International School of Naples to prevent future issues.”
Milam said the base also was working to ensure that all commands and staffers were informed about access rules.
Citizens of at least 12 countries — including Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, Russia and Venezuela — are allowed access to bases, ships and other facilities within the Navy Region Europe, Africa, Central area of responsibility only after a heightened review process, which includes approval of a base commanding officer.
Paperwork for them must be submitted at least two weeks before a visit. The requirements apply to everyone with the designation, including students participating in high school sports, NSA Naples said.
Similar policies exist at other installations, including U.S. Air Force bases in Japan.
U.S. Army Garrison Italy did not answer Stars and Stripes’ questions about their policies related to DTCN students participating in school events.
Aviano Air Base collects personal information, including a copy of a passport, from all visiting foreign nationals. The details are sent to a security office in Rome, and background checks are carried out by the respective embassies, said Staff Sgt. Heather Ley, an Aviano spokeswoman. If approved, the visitor is granted access for a base tour or other activity, she said.
At least two international schools in Rome regularly participate in sports alongside Defense Department students in Italy.
In a letter sent to parents on June 3, ISN principal Debbie Kiley said the school made the decision to cancel the event for all students after arriving at the park and learning that only pupils who are Chinese citizens were barred entry.
As a result, ISN held a smaller event at the school and promised that entry fees and other costs associated with the Carney Park activity would be refunded.
She also noted that the school, which has U.S. and NATO students, had complained to the base and received a response calling the situation on May 23 regrettable and not an attempt to be exclusionary.
The result was a teaching moment for students, Kiley said in the note.
“It reinforced that as an international school, we do not take political positions, but we remain … committed … to core values of being safe, kind, respectful and responsible,” she said. “These values will guide us in building a more peaceful and inclusive global community.”
