The Independence Day celebration fireworks display at NAS Sigonella, Sicily in 2016. The base has restricted attendance to this year's July Fourth celebration to the DOD-affiliated community only, in light of the recent security threat increase. (Ramon Go/U.S. Navy)
NAPLES, Italy — A U.S. Navy base in Sicily is limiting attendance at its Fourth of July celebration this year to people with Defense Department affiliation, as American military installations across Europe remain on heightened alert.
Only military members, dependents, DOD civilians, contractors, NATO employees and Italians with an affiliated identification card will be able to attend July Fourth festivities at Naval Air Station Sigonella, the base announced in a post to its Facebook page on Tuesday.
The restriction means that the annual event is closed to the public and that nonaffiliated guests cannot attend, as they were allowed to previously, NAS Sigonella said in a statement Tuesday. The event takes place on the base’s administrative site known as NAS I.
“While there is no specific threat targeting NAS Sigonella, the increase in security requirements is a proactive measure to ensure the safety and security of our community,” the statement said.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many other bases in Europe, if any, are curtailing attendance at their Independence Day celebrations, which are traditionally open to guests as a gesture of goodwill.
Festivities at Naval Station Rota in Spain will continue as planned and include Americans, members of the Spanish navy, Spanish employees and their guests, the base said in a statement.
It also appeared that a celebration at Naval Support Activity Naples in Italy would go on without attendance restrictions, and a similar event at Naval Support Activity Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete already took place Saturday.
NAS Sigonella’s action comes as the security threat level at military bases across Europe was raised over the weekend. On Sunday, the Army garrison in Stuttgart issued a communitywide alert that the force protection threat level had been elevated to condition “Charlie” until further notice.
Similar directives were sent to the Army’s Rheinland-Pfalz garrison and Ramstein Air Base in Germany. In Italy, officials at Aviano Air Base and NSA Naples also raised their condition level to Charlie.
The Charlie threat level “applies when an incident occurs or intelligence is received indicating some form of terrorist action or targeting against personnel or facilities is likely,” according to the Army’s website.
At a news briefing Monday, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the elevation was due to a combination of factors, including the Euro 2024 soccer tournament and the upcoming Olympic Games.
