The Torrejón Combined Air Operations Centre brings together representatives of the NATO southern flank Warning and Control centres at the CRC conference

• The event was held with the participation of staff from the Control Centres of the airspace of responsibility, as well as members of the NATO command and force structure.

The annual conference of NATO's southern flank nations' Warning and Control Centres was held at the Combined Air Operations Centre in Torrejón on November the 22nd and 23rd.

It was opened by the commander of CAOC TJ, Lieutenant General Juan Pablo Sánchez de Lara, and was attended by personnel from eleven countries from the Warning and Control Centres in their area of responsibility, as well as a representative from Switzerland and personnel from NATO organisations such as AIRCOM and CAOC Uedem.

The conference is oriented towards analysing and sharing procedures in the field of air surveillance and control of the airspace of responsibility. It provides a unique forum for participating personnel to discuss issues of interest in the field of airspace surveillance and control. It also serves as a meeting point to analyse and refresh the procedures implemented by the CAOC in this field.

The area of responsibility of the CAOC Torrejón covers a total of 11 million square kilometres and extends from the Black Sea and the Mediterranean in the East to the Atlantic Ocean in the West, covering the continental fringe of the allied countries.

Since the implementation of the new NATO command structure in 2013, the Torrejón CAOC assumes the Tactical Command and Tactical Control (TACOM/TACON) of all subordinate units in the NATO integrated air and missile defence system (NATINAMDS), so that the alignment of procedures and unity of doctrine are vital for the optimisation of resources and effectiveness in the reply to any intrusion of unidentified aircraft in the airspace of responsibility.