CAOC Finderup 1993 - 2013 - Flyvevåbnets Historiske Samling

NATO AEW Force. During the 1980's theoverall capability ofthe system wassignificantly improvedby introducing anAirborne EarlyWarning (AEW)system. AEW /Ground EnvironmentIntegration Segment (AGEIS) upgraded theoriginal NADGE systemsgiving the possibility tointegrate the AWACS(the E-3 Sentry built byBoeing) information intoits visual displays. Overtime, the capability of theNATO AEW Force hasproved its worth andremains a critical asset in any air operation.Post-Cold WarThe political situation for NATO changeddramatically from 1989 following the fall of theBerlin Wall, the dissolution of the Warsaw Pactand the Soviet Union, and the reunification ofGermany. For the nations, the Alliance, and forBALTAP, nothing was quite as before. Theoriginal goal of the Alliance had beenachieved: to prevent the dangerousconfrontation of the Cold War leading to armedconflict and to end it peacefully. BALTAP´scommand structure was rationalized and muchreduced in the period 1993 – 1994. A newcommand – the Interim Combined AirOperation Centre No.1 (ICAOC 1) – wasactivated and became BALTAP´s subordinateAir agency. NATO established ten ICAOCs inall. For the Northern region, air operationswere centralized by subordinating directly toCOMAIRCENT at Ramstein. Danish airoperations became fully integrated in ICAOC1, with due respect to the national caveats.The Commander or Director of Operations hadto be a Dane.In 2000, the NATO Military Committeeapproved the concept for Air Operations andthe “Interim” was removed from the CAOCs’names. Two regional Air Commands wereestablished: Ramstein in Germany, and Izmirin Turkey. Each had five CAOCs under theircommand. CAOC 1 had personnel fromGermany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,the United Kingdom, and Denmark filling thePeacetime Establishment.Concurrently in 2000, a new NATOcommand structure was implemented.Throughout the 1990s the European securityenvironment had changed in an unpredictableway. In 1991, NATO agreed on a newstrategic concept based on developments inCentral and East Europe, and for nationsaspiring to NATO membership “Partnership forPeace” was introduced, which became a hugesuccess for the East European countries.11Back to Tables of Contents