Force for a long period. Due to political considerations, command of the naval forces in the region was split. Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe, at Naples, operated most of the NATO allies' naval forces in the Mediterranean under an Italian admiral. But due to the U.S. desire to retain control of their nuclear-armed naval forces, the United States Sixth Fleet reported directly to CinCAFSOUTH, supported by a separate headquarters named Naval Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe (STRIKFORSOUTH). The sixth command was an Allied command responsible for the land defence of Greece, named Allied Land Forces South-Central Europe or LANDSOUTHCENT. However, it is not certain whether it was ever actually operational, with the 1998/99 NATO Handbook listing it as 'yet to be activated.' Below these PSCs were smaller headquarters such as Maritime Air Forces, Mediterranean, at Sigonella, Sicily, responsible for the coordination of the aerial anti-submarine effort, Submarine Forces, South, and the Naval On-Call Force Mediterranean, a multinational escort squadron activated at intervals. Structure in 1989 At the end of the Cold War consisted of the following commands: Allied Command Europe, in Mons, Belgium Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH), in Naples, Italy Allied Land Forces Southern Europe (LANDSOUTH), in Verona, Italy 3rd Italian Corps, in Milan 4th Italian Alpine Corps, in Bolzano 5th Italian Corps, in Vittorio Veneto Allied Land Forces South-Eastern Europe (LANDSOUTHEAST), in İzmir, Turkey 1st Turkish Army, in Istanbul 2nd Turkish Army in Malatya 3rd Turkish Army, in Erzincan Allied Land Forces South-Central Europe (LANDSOUTHCENT) in Larissa, Greece Allied Air Forces Southern Europe (AIRSOUTH), in Naples, Italy Fifth Allied Tactical Air Force (5 ATAF), in Vicenza, Italy Sixth Allied Tactical Air Force (6 ATAF), in İzmir, Turkey Seventh Allied Tactical Air Force (7 ATAF) in Larissa, Greece, a planned command for the Greek Air Force, but never actually established Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe (NAVSOUTH), in Naples, Italy, with the following national commands of Mediterranean NATO members: Commander Gibraltar Mediterranean (COMGIBMED), in Gibraltar, under a Royal Navy Rear Admiral, who doubled as Commander British Forces Gibraltar Commander Western Mediterranean (COMMEDWEST), under a French Navy admiral, until 1962 in Algiers, then Toulon, after France left NATO's integrated command structure in 1966 the command was absorbed by NAVSOUTH Commander Central Mediterranean (COMEDCENT), in Naples, under an Italian Navy admiral Commander Eastern Mediterranean (COMEDEAST), in Athens, under a Greek Navy admiral Commander South-Eastern Mediterranean (COMMEDSOUTHEAST), under a British admiral in