The CHOD presides over the Spanish Flag Raising Ceremony at the Torrejón Combined Air Operations Centre.

• The ceremony was presided over by the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón.

The Torrejón Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC TJ) celebrated National Day with the traditional act of raising the Spanish flag.  The military ceremony was presided over by the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, and was attended, among other military authorities, by Lieutenant General José María Salom Piqueres (National Institute of Aerospace Technology, INTA), Lieutenant General Luis Manuel Martínez Meijide (Military Emergency Unit, UME) and Major General Julio Nieto Sampayo (Combat Air Command, MACOM), as well as Lieutenant General Fernando de la Cruz Caravaca, commander of the CAOC TJ.

During the military ceremony, decorations were awarded to CAOC TJ personnel.

In his speech, the CAOC TJ Commander, Lieutenant General De la Cruz, highlighted Spain's important contribution to NATO, in particular the support provided to CAOC TJ as the host nation of the only NATO unit located in Spain.

For his part, the CHOD congratulated the members of the CAOC TJ, nationals and foreigners, who had received decorations in their different modalities, highlighting the significance of 12 October for Spaniards. The CHOD also stressed that Spain is a committed NATO ally, involved in the collective defence of our allies. 

TORREJÓN COMBINED AIR OPERATIONS CENTRE (NATO)

The main mission of the Torrejón CAOC, under the direct command of a Lieutenant General of the Spanish Air Force, is to plan, direct, coordinate, supervise, analyse and report on air defence operations in Southern Europe, following the directives of the NATO Air Component Command on which it depends and with the resources assigned to NATO by the nations in peacetime.

The Spanish Armed Forces make an important contribution to the mission carried out by this centre. Some 120 Spanish military personnel serve in the CAOC itself as well as in the National Support Element (NSE) and the NATO Communications and Information Agency Unit (NCIA).