POGGIO RENATICO, Italy – On 30 January 2019, General Tod D. Wolters, Commander Allied Air Command, entrusted the flag of NATO’s Deployable Air Command and Control Centre in Poggio Renatico, Italy, to Italian Major General Claudio Gabellini, presently the Chief of Staff at Headquarters Allied Air Command.
Representatives from across NATO Allied Air Command and the Italian Air Force as well as civilian representatives were in attendance, when U.S. Air Force General Tod Wolters, commander of Allied Air Command, officiated the change of command at the Deployable Air Command and Control Centre (DACCC) in Poggio Renatico. General Wolters thanked outgoing Commander, Major General Dre Kraak, for his three-year tenure at the DACCC.
"It has been a great tour as Operational Commander of a great team. The DACCC has always stood firm, could do more than we were asked and told to do, and all because of an experienced and enthuastic team of people” said Major General Kraak. During his tenure, he oversaw the further build-up and evolution of the Air Command and Control schoolhouse and the deployable surveillance and control capability including three deployments abroad of elements of the DARS(1), a deployable air surveillance and control unit. Most recently the DARS was deployed to Oerland, Norway, where the team actively supported NATO’s live exercise TRIDENT JUNCTURE 18.
Major General Gabellini, who has been the Chief of Staff at Headquarters Allied Air Command since October 2016, will formally take office on 1 March.
"We’re living in interesting times, in which multi-axis threats and multi-directional challenges continuously call for increased readiness, responsiveness and for stronger operational capabilities," said Major General Gabellini. "In that perspective we will have to work hard together to put DACCC personnel and its equipment in the best position possible to deliver ‘on time’ the required operational outputs, anytime and anywhere,” he added.
The DACCC provides a capability for deployable Surveillance and Control of Alliance Air Operations. Its mission is to prepare elements for worldwide operational deployment and, together with the Combined Air Operations Centres at Torrejon, Spain and Uedem, Germany, to deliver well-trained and specialised experts to supplement Allied Air Command during Allied operations and exercises. This provides NATO commanders with a unique force projection capability.
(1) Deployable Air Control Centre, Recognized Air Picture Production Centre, Sensor Fusion Post
Story by Allied Air Command Pulbic Affairs Office