Military Bases and Maria

Yesterday we went to two different military bases. The first was the US Naval Base in Souda Bay, where we were briefed on the strategic importance of Crete for the US Navy. I really enjoyed hearing about what we've been learning about in class from a military person's perspective, especially when it comes to Russia and Syria. It was also reassuring to hear about how the US and Greeks have a close partnership based on cooperation because sometimes I feel like as IR students we tend to focus a lot on only the bad/imperialist side of things when it comes to the US and don't give as much credit to the positive. I think this was especially shown by the fact that so many of the jobs on base are actually filled by local Greek citizens. The second place we visited in Souda Bay was the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Center (NMIOTC), which was so cool! We had a briefing where we learned about how NMIOTC trains different military and law enforcement groups on how to do everything from boarding hostile ships to the laws surrounding migrants. After, one of the Greek Navy SEAL/Special Forces men brought us on board an old ship that they use for training, which was awesome! Overall, I think it was beneficial to see international cooperation in action, from the US using the Greek base and ports, to NATO providing training for a wide variety of groups. Later in the evening we had the pleasure of listening to Maria play the violin for us, she is so talented and I really enjoyed listening to her music.