The Command Senior Enlisted Leader to the Spanish CHOD visits the staff of the combined air operations centre and the data link management cell.

• This is the first meeting with the personnel assigned to these two Units since they took up the post.

The Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL) to de Spanish CHOD, Pedro Hilario Medina Oliver, visited the Data Link Management Cell (DLMC) and the national element of the Combined Air Operations Centre of Torrejón (CAOCTJ), both located at the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base facilities.

The CSEL began his visit at the DLMC, where he was received by the Chief of the DLMC, Lieutenant Colonel Fernando Jiménez Castro, who accompanied him during the tour of the facilities.

Following this, Sergeant Major (OR-9) José Jaime Barriuso Díaz, explained through a presentation, the structure and functions of the Unit, as well as the relationship with other national and international organisations.

The visit to the DLMC was concluded with a meeting with non commissioned officers (NCO) and troop staff, during which the raised concerns and questions were addressed.

The DLMC is part of the Command and Control Headquarters (JMC in Spanish), belonging to the Joint Cyberspace Command (MCCE in Spanish) and whose main mission is the management and control of tactical data link (TDL) activities of the Spanish Armed Forces. In addition, it is a part of national and NATO working groups and provides support for training in TDL courses for the Armies and the Navy, and technical support for different programmes (A400 and Tiger) through the Directorate General of Armament and Material (DGAM).

Subsequently, the CSEL began his visit to the national element of the CAOCTJ, where he held a meeting with Lieutenant General Commander Juan Pablo Sánchez de Lara, where he could see the General's interest in the professional development of the NCOs and personnel of the troop ranks in general, and of the centre in particular.

After the meeting with the General, Sergeant Major (OR-9) Antonio García García, explained the structure and functions of the national element in the conference hall, followed by a meeting with the NCOs and personnel of the troop ranks, where he had the chance to learn about their concerns and answer their questions.

Finally, accompanied by Sergeant Majors Antonio García García and Enrique Fernández Romero, NCIA's most senior non-commissioned officer, they started the tour of the CAOCTJ's national element facilities, which is composed of the personnel stationed there, the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) detachment, and the national support element (NSE).

The CAOCTJ is part of the NATO Command Structure (NCS) and its main mission is to plan, direct, coordinate, supervise, analyse and report on the air defence operations of the assets assigned to it in times of peace, crisis and conflict, following the directives of the NATO air component in its area of responsibility. This area of responsibility covers Portugal, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, the southern half of France and Spain, covering approximately 6,500 kilometres from east to west, the entire Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and part of the Atlantic.