Commander AC Ramstein visits CAOC Uedem

  • Published
  • Allied Air Command Ramstein Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  General Mark A. Welsh III, commander of Allied Air Command Ramstein, Germany, paid his first visit to the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem, Germany, Jan. 27.

The CAOC at Uedem is one of two CAOCs in NATO's northern European region and NATO's only deployable CAOC. Together with the CAOC in Finderup, Denmark, the multinational control agency exercises the critical Alliance Air Policing mission ensuring safety and security in the skies north of the Alps.

While visiting the CAOC, General Welsh learned about the Centre's mission and operational role from German air force Lt. Gen. Dieter Naskrent, CAOC commander, and his team.

"I am impressed at the outstanding job the men and women perform here at Uedem -- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year -- planning, directing and tasking Alliance air operations," said General Welsh, who arrived at his post in Ramstein in December. "Air Policing and what it represents is the glue that binds this Alliance together."

General Naskrent greeted his superior commander saying, "I'm very pleased and it is an honour for me to welcome General Welsh here at CAOC Uedem while we demonstrate for the first time an interim capability for missile defence, which is unique to NATO."

General Welsh's visit coincided with a capability demonstration of NATO's Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence programme at the CAOC. The interim capability allows NATO commanders, for the first time, to conduct limited ballistic missile defence planning and exchange information with national ballistic missile defence assets.

After the demonstration, Italian air force Brig. Gen. Allessandro Pera, the head of the programme office, handed over a symbolic key to the operational user of the capability, represented by Maj. Gen. Mark F. Ramsay, deputy chief of staff for Operations and Intelligence from NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Belgium.