The two-week Initial Functional JFAC Training (IFJT) course provides students with the full training required to supplement the NATO Command Structure Joint Force Air Component, a command and control centre that plans and executes the delivery of NATO Air Power across the entire spectrum of joint operations. Graduates from the course are cleared to participate in the subsequent exercise to receive their “mission ready” status.
We are making a common effort here demonstrating our resilience and ability to perform our tasks under challenging restrictions imposed by the pandemic
“I am glad to have the opportunity to host all of you here in the common effort of demonstrating our resilience and ability to perform our tasks also under the proving and challenging restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Italian Air Force Major General Claudio Gabellini, Commander of the DACCC.
During the ongoing pandemic, the DACCC continues to be the NATO-designated training entity responsible for providing Air
Command and Control courses, specifically IFJT. “The Centre has never stopped its effort to accomplish this mission and introduced tools such as advance distributed learning and mobile training teams to overcome international travel restrictions and comply with safety precautions,” said Major General Gabellini.
“Due to IFJT’s practical portions and the Air Planning tools in use, it is not feasible to conduct the course completely remotely using e-learning methods,” General Gabellini continued to say. “Therefore my team worked hard to have all the necessary health protection means in place to ensure a safe training environment and run the course in in-person mode,” he added. Safety precautions include the use of masks, social distancing (resulting in limited course attendance), COVID-19 testing and the introduction of air purifiers supplying enhanced air filtration to the training rooms.
he IFJT 21-01 also featured a new updated scenario challenging the students in a more realistic environment that mirrored real-world conditions and allowed then to tackle most likely current and future threats. A bespoke IT platform was introduced that is easily deployable with a mobile training team for instruction programmes provided to the NATO Command.