<sod>In 2002, it was announced that a US naval facility would be established in the country, to be used mainly a stopover base for US military aircraft and ships transiting the area.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2210571.stm |title=US naval base to protect Sao Tome oil |date= 22 August 2002 |work=BBC News World Edition |accessdate=17 October 2016}}</ref> In late 2004, the US Navy began exploring further options for maritime engagement in the Gulf of Guinea area, and delegates from Sao Tome and Principle attended a conference in Naples, Italy, after which the US submarine tender USS ''Emory S. Land'' conducted a training mission in the area as part of steps towards the establishment of [[United States Africa Command]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.brown.edu/initiatives/journal-world-affairs/sites/brown.edu.initiatives.journal-world-affairs/files/private/articles/15.1_Pham.pdf |title=America’s New Africa Command: Paradigm Shift or Step Backwards? |journal=Brown Journal of World Affairs |date=2008 |issue=Fall/Winter |volume=XV |last=Pham|first=J. Peter|pages=257&ndash;272}}</ref><eod>
<sod>In 2002, it was announced that an unmanned US naval facility would be established in the country, to be used mainly a stopover base for US military aircraft and ships transiting the area.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2210571.stm |title=US naval base to protect Sao Tome oil |date= 22 August 2002 |work=BBC News World Edition |accessdate=17 October 2016}}</ref> In late 2004, the US Navy began exploring further options for maritime engagement in the Gulf of Guinea area, and delegates from Sao Tome and Principle attended a conference in Naples, Italy, after which the US submarine tender USS ''Emory S. Land'' conducted a training mission in the area as part of steps towards the establishment of [[United States Africa Command]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.brown.edu/initiatives/journal-world-affairs/sites/brown.edu.initiatives.journal-world-affairs/files/private/articles/15.1_Pham.pdf |title=America’s New Africa Command: Paradigm Shift or Step Backwards? |journal=Brown Journal of World Affairs |date=2008 |issue=Fall/Winter |volume=XV |last=Pham|first=J. Peter|pages=257&ndash;272}}</ref><eod>