Between July 18- 22, two instructors from NATO’s Deployable Command and Control Centre (DACCC) based in Poggio Renatico, Italy, supported Control and Reporting Centre Markiz in Bulgaria in providing eight students with the academic and practical knowledge that will enable them to control air-to-air refueling (AAR). The prerequisite for effective AAR operations is a pool of trained and professional staff. The nature of AAR requires individuals to be trained and familiar with the ways tankers and receivers operate together and with the ability to deal with all of the challenges faced when combining Alliance tanker resources into a coherent, executable plan. AAR enables a rapid response, an increase in range and extended airborne operations for a wide variety of military aircraft.
“The DACCC mission is to conduct command and control (C2) training and exercises for the NATO Command Structure, the NATO Force Structure and Partners Nations; as such our support to Bulgaria shows the cohesion of the Alliance and our operational capabilities in our standing tasks of Air C2 across the entire spectrum of planning and controlling. We in DACCC as ‘Centre of Excellence’ for Air Command and Control, both within NATO and Partner Nations, look to the future of how we do this in a multi-domain battlespace with regular and irregular threats” said Major General Denny Traas, Commander of DACCC.
DACCC run the Specialized Heavy Air Refueling Course in garrison two times per year. The two week course provides NATO and Partner Nations fundamental AAR knowledge and offers students practical knowledge tailored towards operating as AAR staff officers, making them ready to support Allied Air Command’s Joint Force Air Component exercises or real-world missions. The DACCC provides a capability for deployable air 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, to deliver well-trained and specialised experts to augment Allied Air Command during Allied operations and exercises.
