On Wednesday 22 June, General S.A. Bernardis was welcomed on his arrival by General S.A. Ottone. Following a brief discussion with Air Force General Mario Renzo Ottone, Commander of the COA and CAOC5, General Bernardis proceeded to the Centre’s facilities, where, after a brief meeting with USAF Lieutenant General Ralph J. Jodice II, Combined Forces Air Component Commander (CFACC) – that is, the Commander of the Command and Control centre managing NATO’s ‘Unified Protector’ (OUP) air operation for Libya – he was able to attend an illustrative briefing on ongoing activities and visit the Operations Room. Following this, the Chief of Staff attended a briefing on the activities carried out by the COA, delivered by Air Brigadier General Elia Baldazzi, Commander of the Command’s Air Operations Centre (AOC). At the conclusion of the visit, General Bernardis, whilst signing the Unit’s Guest Book, thanked General Ottone for his kind hospitality and expressed his deep satisfaction with the professionalism demonstrated on a daily basis by the personnel serving at Poggio Renatico and, during this period, for the decisive contribution made to the conduct of air operations relating to the Libyan crisis. The COA, established at the Poggio Renatico base on 4 October 2010, is responsible for exercising command and control over SAR (Search and Rescue) assets, so-called “operational” air transport (including flights to and from theatres outside national borders, but excluding state flights) and Air Defence. These tasks are carried out every day of the year, without interruption, through the COA’s National Operations Centre (AOC), which manages and coordinates all assigned assets and resources. In addition to its routine operational activities, the COA may be called upon to provide an appropriate air security framework for “high-profile” events, as was the case, for example, with the G8 summit in L’Aquila in 2009. Furthermore, the COA acts as the link between NATO’s Command and Control chain and the national organisation, as its Commander fulfils the dual role of COA Commander and CAOC5, that is, the NATO Command and Control Centre for air defence operations in Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and Albania.
