Torrejón Combined Air Operations Centre participates in NATO exercise ‘Steadfast Duel 24’

• Over 200 representatives from NATO’s command and force structure have taken part in the exercise

The NATO exercise Steadfast Duel 2024 (STDU24) has concluded. Led by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), this exercise aimed to train more than 20 NATO force and command structure headquarters, including the Allied Joint Force Command Naples and Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), with a primary focus on the defense of the Euro-Atlantic area at both operational and tactical levels.

The contribution of the Torrejón Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOCT), as a subordinate unit of AIRCOM, has been in the tactical direction of aircraft through the production of an Air Operations Order (ATO). An ATO provides a breakdown of missions for a 24-hour period, including the aircraft, its call sign, schedules and other information necessary for CAOCT members to track and monitor missions.

STDU24 provided valuable insights, lessons learned, and best practices on how to optimize the employment of available air assets. Through an effective ATO cycle, the exercise successfully generated operational effects across all domains, including land, maritime, air, space, and the cognitive domain.

Internally, the exercise has entailed the challenge of integrating into a single CAOC more than 200 personnel from virtually all the nations of the Atlantic Alliance, more than half of them from other NATO aerospace units and organizations, focusing on accomplishing the mission throughout the European territory of responsibility. To achieve this, it has been essential to have the support of the Spanish National Support Element, together with the technical assistance of the NATO Communications and Information Agency and, in particular, the Torrejón Air Base Group and its logistical and infrastructure support. Without it, it would have been much more difficult to have successfully completed STDU24.