For the first time, the role of “Mission Commander” was assigned to the Tactical Director on board the E-550A aircraft of the 14th Squadron of Pratica di Mare
On Friday, April 26, 2024, as part of the’Multinational exercise Red Flag 24-1 which is taking place at the U.S. Air Force base in Eielson in Alaska, the E550A CAEW aircraft (Conformal Airborne Early Warning) the Air Force has carried out – for the first time – a flight mission in the role of Mission Commander.
In training and operational contexts, the Mission Commander is the asset. responsible to the Commander of the Joint Force Air Component (COMJFAC) of planning and the overall conduct of the flight mission.
In the exercise last Friday, as part of an activity where tutoring was carried out Weapon Instructor of the line Eurofighter, the function of Mission Commander It was carried out by Tactical Director of the CAEW mission crew, a professional figure, staffed by personnel of the Air and Missile Defense Integrated (DAMI) category, trained and educated in the exercise of Command and Control.
Having been entrusted with the task of fulfilling this role of absolute importance, in a multinational context, outside national boundaries and for all aircraft assets involved in that specific mission, is synonymous with recognized professional appreciation internationally as well as a training and operational milestone of absolute importance for the Italian Air Force, for the crews of the aircraft and for the entire nation. 14th Wing operating in Alaska on the CAEW. The E-550A CAEW in particular is operating in Red Flag Alaska, in his primary role as the AEW setup (Airborne Early Warning) and Tactical Command and Control of combat units, with a very wide range of tasks and capabilities to allow for what is necessary to ensure the conduct of missions such as Battle Management and Command and Control (BM&C2) in a Large Force Employment (LFE) training context, in a high density and threat environment called Peer to Peer/Anti Access-Area Denial (A2AD).
