Both Striking Fleet Atlantic and the United States Sixth Fleet have never been allowed to be placed anywhere but directly under American commanding officers—the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic and Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe—because the dominant legal interpretation of the McMahon Act has been that nuclear striking forces cannot be controlled by non-US commanders.
From 1956-1959 Burgess served as an officer aboard the US Navy destroyer, USS Stormes (DD-780), a ship assigned to both the U.S. Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets.
For example, it was used as a port of call by the United States Sixth Fleet in the early months of the Gulf War.
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During the 2000s (decade), the commander was a United States Navy Vice Admiral who simultaneously held the position of Commander United States Sixth Fleet and Commander, Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO, the old STRIKFORSOUTH), both located in Naples, Italy.
As a flag officer he commanded Task Force 77 between Taiwan and mainland China, Carrier Div 6 in the Mediterranean during the 1958 Lebanon landing and as a vice admiral, commanded the United States Sixth Fleet.
As an example the center in Naples, Italy was heavily dependent on personnel from the United States Sixth Fleet; during the 1970s, aircraft carriers (such as the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67), destroyer tenders (such as the USS Grand Canyon (AD-28) and USS Cascade (AD-16), as well as myriad destroyers and patrol gunboats made Naples their home, and sailors found the USS facilities another home away from home.
In 1966 Guest was commander of Task Force 65 of the United States Sixth Fleet when a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber collided with a tanker and crashed near Palomares, Spain.