The European Tactical Airlift Program Course (ETAP-C) started November 8 and is executed at a permanent multinational training centre, the European Tactical Airlift Centre (ETAC) located in Zaragoza, Spain. This iteration of ETAP course has more than 150 aircrew from Germany, Spain, Poland, Norway, Portugal, Czech Republic and Lithuania. This course will standardise cargo aircraft procedures and air-to-air communications across Allied cargo airframes.
The four founding members, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany, inaugurated EATC on September 1, 2010. Luxembourg joined in 2012, Spain and Italy joined in 2014. EATC supports ETAP with supplementary personnel during the trainings and courses and by chairing the Standardisation Board, which advises about the ETAP Techniques, Tactics and Procedures (ETTP), course syllabi and Training objectives. EATC is furthermore responsible for supervising the consistency of airlift training.
Both institutions work closely together in order to offer efficient and tailored airlift training in Europe, and to increase the interoperability among all partners. ATC supports ETAP with supplementary personnel during the trainings and courses and by chairing the Standardisation Board, which advises about the ETAP Techniques, Tactics and Procedures, course syllabi and training objectives.