European Air Transport Command

European Air Transport Command
European Air Transport Command emblem
active	July 1, 2010 to date
Country	Germany France Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Spain Italy
Armed forces	armed forces Forces armées françaises Army belge Nederlandse krijgsmacht Armée luxembourgeoise Fuerzas Armadas Españolas Forze Armate Italiane
Armed forces	air force Armée de l'air Luchtcomponent / Force Aérienne belge Koninklijke Luchtmacht Composante aérienne luxembourgeoise Ejército del Aire Aeronautica Militare
Branch of service	Air transport
Type	multinational command authority
Strength	214
Seat	Air base Eindhoven
motto	Integrated, Innovative, Effective
management
Commander	Major General Laurent Marboeuf
Deputy Commander	Brigadier General Francesco Saverio Agresti
Chief of Staff	Brigadier General Andreas Schick

The European Air Transport Command ( EATC ; German  European Air Transport Command ) is a multinational command authority of the French , Dutch , Belgian , German , Spanish , Luxembourg and Italian air forces in Eindhoven in the Netherlands . Its main task is the coordination and operational management of the air transport and refueling forces as well as the Air MedEvac (medical evacuation) missions of the participating states.

history

In November 1999 the Franco-German Security Council declared the gradual consolidation of existing military air transport as a common goal. A joint management should be established in a suitable multinational framework in order to achieve profitable synergy effects. This political idea marked the starting point for the project of a European Air Transport Command (EATC). At that time, the European Air Group (EAG) already existed - an association of seven countries, which was supposed to carry out a study on the feasibility of the idea and possible options for action. This European Airlift Study came to the conclusion that an expanded cooperation and more in-depth coordination in European air transport is urgently recommended and is even necessary with regard to the Airbus A400M project . It defined the goal of a common command structure and various stages of development.

The countries Belgium , France , Germany , Italy , the Netherlands , Spain and the United Kingdom followed in 2001 this urgent recommendation, questioning the European Airlift Coordination Cell (EACC) at Eindhoven. Norway dispatched an officer in partner status. This institution was initially limited to the mere coordination of air transport operations by the partner countries. However, it proved after a short time that the prognoses of the study were correct. It achieved a significant increase in efficiency, which ultimately exceeded the investment in the EACC project. The success motivated the partner states to further expand the competencies of the EACC in order to be able to achieve an even greater effect. An urgent prerequisite was the fundamental willingness of the states to surrender parts of their planning and commissioning competencies and thus to take an important step towards even deeper integration.

Therefore, in 2004 the EACC was expanded in its planning authority and its capacities for conceptual work on the European Airlift Center (EAC) . In this department, the conditions for future closer cooperation should be defined and initial approaches to standardizing regulations and procedures should be prepared. However, the success of this fundamental work was far more difficult to measure than the resource optimization of the EACC. The lack of staff and the lack of political will prevented the partner states from reaching an agreement quickly on the next step. Nevertheless, the EAC was able to successfully support EU and NATO- led operations. These included the EU operation Artemis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from June to September 2003 and the NATO International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) mission in Afghanistan.

Finally, at the 7th Franco-German Council of Ministers (October 12, 2006), Germany and France agreed to initiate the establishment of a joint command. Belgium and the Netherlands joined the project shortly afterwards. In May 2007, the four states signed a corresponding concept for the establishment of the European Air Transport Command, on the basis of which a multinational deployment team began work three months later. This staff created the prerequisites for the establishment of the EATC, which took place on September 1, 2010 in Eindhoven in the presence of political and military representatives from the partner countries. Previously, as part of an appeal, the previous national leadership in Germany by the air transport command had been terminated and the command was dissolved on December 31, 2010. An initial operational capability was achieved in May 2011. Luxembourg joined the command in November 2012. The full operational capability was achieved in November 2013. In July and December 2014, Spain and Italy joined the command as full members. On September 9, 2015, the EATC celebrated its 5th anniversary at Eindhoven Airport . Participation in this European project is open to other countries.

The operations that the EATC has carried out so far include, in addition to the evacuation of citizens of European countries after the earthquake in Japan in 2011, above all operations in Libya :

• Neo operations (February – March 2011): 17 flights with a total of 200 flight hours, with 1,100 passengers and 15 tons of cargo carried;
• Operation Harmattan of the Army de l'Air (March 18-21, 2011): 31 flights, cumulative around 170 flight hours, to bring 700 passengers and 200 tons, mainly of relief supplies, into the country; such as
• Operation Unified Protector (NATO mission): So far, almost 3,500 flight hours with 11,000 passengers and 3,300 tons of cargo. Destination airports were primarily the bases of the combat aircraft that were used against Libya. Of the 320 missions, 72% were flown by France, 16% by Belgium, 8% by Germany and 4% by the Netherlands.

tasks

The European air transport command is responsible for operational planning and coordination of the approximately 200 transport aircraft of the six partner countries. For this purpose, the participating states make their air transport capacities with various fixed-wing aircraft - but not helicopters - available to the EATC. If a member state has a need for air transport or air refueling, it reports this to the EATC, which uses the corresponding aircraft from the joint pool. In addition, the EATC is responsible for planning and executing operations, ensuring joint training and standardization. The command has also been organizing the European Air Transport Training , which takes place in Saragossa or Plovdiv , since 2012 .

Structure in peace

The command of the EATC has a major general ( NATO rank code OF-7 ), his deputy is a brigadier general (OF-6). The power of command changes between the two largest states, Germany and France; if a German is in charge of leadership, he is represented by a French general and vice versa.

This alternating leadership can also be found in the two divisions mentioned. The command of the Operational Division and the Functional Division changes between Dutch and Belgian staff officers .

German contribution

Germany provided the first commander of the EATC, Major General Jochen Both. Most of the German soldiers who started their work in Eindhoven with the establishment of the EATC come from the disbanded Air Transport Command (LTKdo) in Münster, which was decommissioned on December 31, 2010. Until then the LTKdo troop and professional business assumed Lufttransportgeschwader and the flight readiness of the Ministry of Defense were first troops on duty subordinated to the Air Force divisions on 30 June 2010 and are following its dissolution now Air Force troops command assumed.

The parliamentary flight operations, which are carried out by the flight readiness of the Federal Ministry of Defense, the use of helicopters, e.g. for the national search and rescue service , and the aircraft stationed abroad (e.g. Afghanistan) remain the respective national responsibility.

Fleet / flight hours

The "backbone" of the current fleet, which the EATC can fall back on, are the C-160 Transall and the C-130 Hercules . In addition, there are aircraft of the types CASA CN-235 and Airbus A340 for pure passenger transport and Airbus A310 and KDC-10 for passenger transport and use as tanker aircraft. The fleet comprises a total of around 200 aircraft. In the future, the C-160 Transall and C-130 Hercules in particular are to be replaced by the Airbus A400M , which all EATC members with the exception of Italy and the Netherlands have ordered. In the medium term, the Airbus A330 MRTT will also be procured by most of the member countries and NATO .

In 2014 the EATC aircraft completed a total of 45,413 flight hours. 1079 patients were treated during MedEvac missions and 219 refueled in the air. 230,244 passengers and 25,623 tons of cargo were carried on these flights. Almost 90,000 paratroopers were dropped.

Since September 2018, the EATC has had access to the following fleet:

Country	Aircraft type	Airport	number
Belgium	Airbus A321	Melsbroek	1
	Lockheed C-130	Melsbroek	10
	Falcon 900 VIP	Melsbroek	1
	EMB-135/145	Melsbroek	4th
Germany	Airbus A310 MRTT	Cologne	4th
	Airbus A310 PAX	Cologne	1
	C-160 Transall	Derision	20th
	Airbus A400M	Wunstorf	22nd
France	Airbus A310	Paris	3
	Airbus A340	Paris	2
	Airbus A400M	Orleans	14th
	Lockheed C-130	Orleans	14th
	Lockheed C-130J	Evreux	2
	C-160 Transall	Orleans	15th
	CASA CN-235	Evreux	27
Italy	Lockheed C-130J	Pisa	20th
	Alenia C-27J	Pisa	7th
	Boeing KC-767	Pratica di Mare	4th
Netherlands	Gulfstream IV	Eindhoven	1
	Lockheed C-130	Eindhoven	4th
	McDonnell Douglas KC-10	Eindhoven	2
Spain	Lockheed KC-130	Zaragoza	10
	Airbus A400M	Zaragoza	3
	CASA C-295	Getafe	13
Total			203

Commanders

In principle, the commander changes between Germany and France every two years.

List of commanders of the EATC (Commander EATC):

Surname	Rank	nationality	Beginning	The End
Jochen Both	Major general		September 1, 2010	19th July 2012
Pascal Valentin	Major general		19th July 2012	3rd July 2014
Christian Badia	Major general		3rd July 2014	June 28, 2017
Pascal Chiffoleau	Major general		June 28, 2017	1st September 2018
Laurent Marboeuf	Major general		Since September 1st, 2018

See also

• Air Mobility Command (AMC), the United States Air Force's equivalent to the EATC
• Strategic Airlift Capability , an amalgamation of various NATO members and the Partnership for Peace countries Finland and Sweden

Web links

• Official website of the EATC

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Daniel Vraštil: entry into the European air transport command in Eindhoven. Luftwaffe.de, September 21, 2011, accessed on February 12, 2012 . 
2. ↑ Katia Vlachos-Dengler: Carry that weight - Improving European Strategic Airlift Capabilities. Dissertation Pardee RAND Graduate School, Pittsburgh 2007, p. 27.
3. ↑ Jörg Lebert, Lieutenant Colonel i. G .: Establishment of a European air transport command. European Security Online, July 7, 2001, archived from the original on October 30, 2007 ; Retrieved February 12, 2012 . 
4. ↑ Katia Vlachos-Dengler: Carry that weight - Improving European Strategic Airlift Capabilities. Pittsburgh 2007, pp. 126-137.
5. ^ Gunnar Borch: EACC becomes EAC. Norsk Støtte i Utlandet, July 7, 2004, archived from the original on November 1, 2013 ; accessed on February 12, 2012 . 
6. ↑ European Air Transport Command. 7th Franco-German Council of Ministers (October 12, 2006). Internet portal for Franco-German cooperation, October 12, 2006, accessed on February 12, 2012 . 
7. ^ Philippe Rutz, Colonel (Armeé de l'Air): L'EATC, un pas de géant vers l'harmonisation du transport aérien militaire européen. Seconde Ligne de Défense, May 27, 2010, archived from the original on February 12, 2012 ; Retrieved on February 12, 2012 (French, interview). 
8. ^ Change of command in Eindhoven: Spain new nation at EATC. In: Flugrevue.de. FlugRevue, July 8, 2014, accessed September 27, 2015 . 
9. ↑ The Italian air transport fleet strengthens the EATC. In: Bundeswehr Journal. Bundeswehr, December 31, 2014, accessed on December 15, 2015 . 
10. ↑ EATC celebrated its 5th anniversary at Eindhoven Air Base. EATC, September 10, 2015, accessed December 30, 2015 . 
11. ↑ Jochen Both, Major General (Air Force): EATC an example for Pooling and Sharing. (PDF; 2.7 MB) November 29, 2011, accessed on February 12, 2012 (English, presentation to the Subcommittee on Security and Defense of the European Parliament). 
12. ↑ EATC operates Air Force transporters and tankers. Flug Revue, October 19, 2010, accessed February 14, 2012 . 
13. ↑ ^{a b} Torsten Sandfuchs-Hartwig, Jan Wosnitzka-Koch: EATC - a “military Star Alliance”. Luftwaffe.de, September 21, 2011, accessed on February 12, 2012 . 
14. ^ Christian John (Lieutenant Colonel i. G., BMVg Fü L III 5), Jürgen KG Rosenthal (Hardthöhenkurier), Stefan Wilmers (Lieutenant Colonel, EATC): The contribution of the Air Force to the EATC. The German way to European integration in air transport. Hardthöhenkurier , accessed on February 14, 2012 . 
15. ↑ EATC: EATC Fleet and bases. January 1, 2018, accessed February 8, 2018 . 
16. ^ EATC The organizational structure . Retrieved December 14, 2018.
17. ↑ Jörg Briedigkeit: Bundling of skills. Interview with Major General Jochen Both. Luftwaffe.de, September 21, 2011, accessed on February 12, 2012 . 
18. ^ EATC Change of Command. European Air Transport Command, July 3, 2014, accessed July 7, 2014 . 
19. ^ Norbert Thomas: EATC Change of Command. On Thursday 03 July 2014 at 11: 00h the European Air Transport Command will conduct a Change of Command (CoC) ceremony at Eindhoven Airbase. eatc-mil.com, June 4, 2014, accessed June 22, 2014 .