On Friday 28th January, the first basic Air Operations Command and Control course ended at the COA in Poggio Renatico (Ferrara). The Centre's mission is to qualify and prepare Armed Forces personnel who will subsequently operate within a Command and Control structure for the planning, conduct and support of air operations in multinational (NATO, EU, UN, coalitions) and national contexts. During the closing ceremony and presentation of attendance certificates, the COA Commander, Air Squad General Mario Renzo Ottone, congratulated the participants on the excellent results achieved, thanking them for their fruitful contribution aimed at improving the content and organisation of the course. In his speech, General Ottone also underlined the importance of the activity carried out by the AOTC, which allows the Armed Force to independently prepare and qualify personnel for the delicate tasks of managing the Command and Control of operations to be carried out within structures such as the JFACC (Joint Force Air Component Command). The AOTC programme for 2011 involves holding 10 courses of two types, basic and advanced, lasting two weeks each, with the aim of training approximately 150 people from Operational Units, Commands and Bodies of the Italian Air Force. The future objective of the Armed Force is to establish a pool of approximately 400 officers and non-commissioned officers with whom to be able to activate an Italian JFACC, the creation of which is scheduled for the year 2015.
