Commander’s Update Briefing
If an air campaign could be described as a symphony of activity, then the combined air operations centre is the conductor – keeping time and synchronising every element. Air Power Association President Air Marshal (ret’d) Greg Bagwell CB CBE investigates.
Column
Understandably secretive in nature and secure in location, combined air operations centres (CAOCs) are little understood by the general public. And, because of their oftendistant location from the ‘battlefield’, they have been viewed with some scepticism and mystery by the very land and sea formations they are there to support.
Since the advent of air power, there has been debate and disagreement over the ownership and control of air forces; indeed, the birth and the early history of the Royal Air Force were spawned and shaped by this very issue, where the British Army and the Royal Navy could not agree on the best employment or apportionment of precious aircraft. Ultimately, it was the lack of focus on home defence from either organisation that was to swing the debate in favour of an independent air arm. Ever since, there has been tension over the prioritisation of air effort, which continues to refocus on ownership (or control) as the fault line.
“The US-led CAOC in the Middle East has responsibility for the entire region as well as Afghanistan and the northern portion of the Indian Ocean. It’s able to shift effort almost seamlessly, with only the tyranny of distance limiting response time.”<…
