On 31 December, the Combined Air Operation Centre at Poggio Renatico will close permanently and be replaced by the Deployable Air Command and Control Centre. Following the establishment of the new NATO structure (NCS, NATO Command Structure), which emerged from the NATO summit in Lisbon, CAOC 5 has been converted into a highly mobile unit capable of managing air operations even from remote locations. Thus, whilst the DACCC has been established at Poggio Renatico, CAOC 5“s air policing functions have been transferred to CAOC in Torrejón, Spain. Established on 1 September 1999 following the closure of the 5th ATAF (Allied Tactical Air Force), CAOC 5 was a multinational command and control centre for air operations. Personnel from the 12 participating nations (Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States) carried out the challenging mission from Poggio Renatico of managing the defence of the airspace over Southern Europe, planning and directing NATO peacekeeping operations and ensuring ”Air Policing’ within their area of responsibility. The airspace managed by CAOC 5 extended from the initial area over Italy to Hungary and the Balkans, initially including Slovenia and subsequently Croatia and Albania. At the height of the Balkan crisis, air operations were directed by the Balkan CAOC in Vicenza. In September 2001, this responsibility was transferred to CAOC 5, which was tasked with conducting air operations for peacekeeping in the regions of the former Yugoslavia. In 2011, NATO was called upon to intervene in the Libyan crisis through Operation ‘Unified Protector’. From 31 March, when operations came under NATO control, CAOC 5 managed the planning and execution of all air operations with trained and qualified personnel. During this period, over 23,000 sorties were flown, of which over 8,700 were carried out by bomber aircraft, and over 1,800 were humanitarian flights.
