“The teams at our two CAOCs are Allied Air Command’s eyes and ears for the key Air Power mission of safeguarding and securing the Alliance airspace 24/7," said General Harrigian. "They also provide critical manning and expertise; they fill positions in our Joint Force Air Component Headquarters that allow us to ensure the Joint team is ready to defend our territory. It was a pleasure to meet the teams at Torrejon and Uedem and witness first-hand the great work they do”.

“The women and men of the NATO Airborne Early Warning & Control Force at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen are doing an incredible job as they provide situational awareness for our Alliance and project a tremendous surveillance and control capability in support of NATO’s 360 degree approach,”

The CAOCs are responsible for planning, tasking, directing, coordinating and supervising the air operations of assigned Allied aircraft. CAOC Uedem oversees areas such as Iceland and the Baltic Sea, with the CAOC at Torrejon being responsible for the Black Sea region; both CAOCs work with the corresponding National Control and Reporting Centres, National Air Policing Centres and dedicated Quick Reaction Alert Interceptor air bases in order to accomplish the Allied Air Command mission of safeguarding NATO airspace across Europe.

The NATO AWACS fleet comes under operational command of Allied Air Command. The fleet provides the Alliance with a flexible capability for airborne early warning and control, air and maritime surveillance and battlespace management.

Find more pictures from the visit here.