Naval Air Station Sigonella in Sicily ordered a lockdown on Wednesday morning. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)
A lockdown and shelter in place order at the Navy’s only air base in Europe following an incident at an entry gate has been lifted, according to a statement.
A security situation at an entry gate at Naval Air Station Sigonella was cleared at 11: 25 a.m., and the shelter in place had been lifted, the base said in a Facebook post. Inbound and outbound traffic lanes at base’s operational site, known as NAS 2, were open, the Navy said.
NAS Sigonella is near Catania on the Italian island of Sicily.
The base first alerted the military community to the lockdown in a Facebook post at 8:36 a.m., saying that inbound and outbound traffic at the NAS 2 base entry control points had been secured, and traffic was being redirected to another gate.
Personnel were asked to follow the directions of security forces and monitor an internal communications system for updates. The base also advised against using a road between NAS 2 and a nearby military housing complex.
The base also has another site, known as NAS 1, which includes schools, a hospital, a commissary and other facilities. Operations at Sigonella include Navy P-8 Poseidon patrol and reconnaissance aircraft and MQ-4C Triton drone and U.S. Space Force detachments.
The base is the Navy’s second largest security command, second to Naval Support Activity Bahrain in the Middle East, according to the service.
