On 27 June, AIRCOM Deputy Commander, French Lieutenant
General Dominique de Longvilliers, visited the AIRCOM command post exercise
Ramstein Ambition I 2016 (RAAN I 16) currently being held at the facilities of the
Italian Air Operations Command in Poggio Renatico,
Italy. Before inspecting the exercise, General de
Longvilliers had an office call with Brigadier General Paolo Mazzi, Air
Operations Command Deputy Commander. He then met with Brigadier General Roberto
di Marco, Deputy Commander of NATO’s Deployable Air Command and Control
(DACCC), also located at Poggio Renatico.
Led by Brigadier General Kevin Huyck, JFAC* director for RAAN I 16, exercise staff from HQ AIRCOM, the two Combined Air
Operations Centres at Torrejon, Spain, and Uedem, Germany, and the DACCC, then
provided briefings to General de Longvilliers updating him about the progress
the exercise was making. The
main goal of exercise RAAN I 16 is to provide organizational training to newly
arrived staff in their respective roles within an entity that ensures
operational command and control of Allied air forces in a fictitious, but
realistic scenario. Besides this transfer of expert knowledge, RAAN I 16 is a
stepping stone training for the upcoming exercise Trident Juncture 2016, where
the AIRCOM JFAC will be responsible to the Joint Commander and required to
excel at this task in a joint scenario.
The visit concluded with an opportunity for the French
General to meet with all French staff at the DACCC.
HQ AIRCOM is responsible for standing up the NATO Command
Structure JFAC for any NATO operation vwithin SACEUR's area of responsibility or exceeding NATO Force Structure capabilities. It can be
supplemented from all AIRCOM entities and/or augmented from NATO nations.
* Joint Force Air Component