On Thursday 4 February, Lt Gen Jodice II met Gen S.A. De Vincenti, Commander of COFA/CAOC5. Gen Jodice II was given a briefing on COFA, which highlighted the mission, duties and functions of the High Command. The visit continued with a tour of the facilities, beginning with COFA’s new building (known as ‘Lot 3’), where the ‘Virtual Flag’ exercise took place in November 2009. At this facility, the Head of the ‘Modelling & Simulation‘ Office gave a briefing explaining the exercise, noting that, for the first time, the Italian Air Force had been able to plan a Computer-Assisted Exercise (CAX), with the aim, amongst others, of validating the structure of the Italian JFACC (Joint Force Air Component Command). Following the briefing, a tour was conducted of the offices available within ’Lot 3‘, spaces which will shortly house the initial training units of the Air Warfare Centre (AWC), the Air Operational Training Centre (AOTC), the ’core‘ JFACC, as well as the new ’Modelling & Simulation‘ Office – units strongly championed by the Chief of the Air Force General Staff. The AWC will be responsible for developing doctrines for the use of air assets, the ’core’ JFACC will be responsible for conducting live operations in multinational or coalition contexts, and the AOTC will provide training for Italian Air Force personnel to be deployed within international AOC/JFACC structures, and therefore likely to be deployed outside Italy. In the afternoon, General Jodice II had the opportunity to visit the other COFA facilities, including the operations centres of the Current Air Operations Directorate and the ‘Pioppo’ Radar Group. The visit then continued with a briefing on the activities of CAOC5, focusing mainly on changes to the Command’s structure which, following NATO’s reorganisation, will see the current organisation of the Southern Region reduced from five to two CAOCs (Poggio Renatico and Larissa in Greece). This will also entail an expansion of Air Policing responsibilities; indeed, CAOC5 will, in the near future, also be responsible for the airspace of Spain and Portugal. The delegation then visited the bunker, where the ACCS (Air Command and Control System) will be deployed. CAOC5 is one of the five centres in southern Europe, reporting to the ACC in Izmir, and began operations from Poggio Renatico on 1 September 1999. Its mission is to provide air policing in the airspace of Italy, Hungary, Slovenia, Albania and Croatia. CAOC5 also provides support for joint operations in the former Yugoslavia (‘Balkan Air Mission’).
