CAOC Finderup 1993 - 2013 - Flyvevåbnets Historiske Samling

This exercise involved CAOCs and CRCs bothin the Southern Region under AACC Izmircommand and CAOCs and CRCs in theNorthern Region under AACC Ramsteincommand being trained in their static location.Later, the exercise developed into more of aPeace Support Operation/Crisis RespondsOperations (PSO/CRO) scenario as wascommon for most exercises during the late90’s.The Bold Ambition type of exercises wereCPX/CAX exercises led by AACC Ramstein,where the Northern Region CAOCs in turnwould be exercised in all of their tasks. Theseexercises were very comprehensive andcomplex, requiring a large staff conductingplanning over many months prior to execution.This exercise was later developed into anAACC Ramstein exercise, where members ofthe CAOCs would man the Air OperationCentre (AOC) at AACC Ramstein. Theseexercises are named Combined/Jointexercises, which means that multiple nationsand also land and/or naval component forcesparticipate.Throughout its existence, CAOC1 hassupported National Exercises, in regards tothe production of Air Tasking Orders (ATO)and Airspace Coordination Orders (ACO). Anexample is DANEX, which is a Danish LiveNaval exercise with participation from otherneighbouring countries and live flying as partof the scenario. The air assets would primarilyact as Opposing Force (OPFOR, later renamedSituational Forces – SITFOR).It was a requirement that the NATOIntegrated Air Defence maintained efficiency ata high state of readiness. This was verified byTactical Evaluation (TACEVAL) Teams fromSHAPE (Supreme Headquarter Allied PowersEurope). These teams would turn up withoutwarning and conduct an exercise using liveflying assets planned in a way that would testthe unit’s ability to conduct operations andtasks as expected.In the timeframe from the fall of the BerlinWall to present time, the exercises developedmore and more from typical Cold Warscenarios to Peace Support Operation/CrisisResponds Operations (PSO/CRO), whichfundamentally changed the CAOC role fromoperating out of its static location in a wartimeenvironment to being deployed into anunfamiliar geographical and geostrategicsetting. This was a huge challenge, which theCAOC performed with flying colours, bestillustrated by the Libyan operation in April2011. Four days into the conflict, CAOCFpersonnel arrived at its sister CAOC in PoggioRenatico, Italy, to support the UN-sanctionedNATO operation. The Operation, called“Unified Protector”, was tasked with protectingthe civilian population in Libya from atrocitiescommitted by Colonel Kaddafi’s forces.CAOCF supported the operation withpersonnel from the very start until theoperation was terminated 31 Oct 2011. Thiswas a good example of the CAOC’s state ofreadiness, commitment and professionalism –the result of its continual training.Following the experience gained duringOperation Unified Protector (OUP), it was28