AOC moves with action

By Squadron Leader Tania Smith

Air Command’s new deployable Air Operations Centre (AOC) came up trumps during the recent East Coast Air Defence Exercise (ECADEX).

On October 26, about 10 personnel from Headquarters Air Command took their work to RAAF Richmond putting the AOC, set up inside tents, through its paces for the first time.

During the deployment, the AOC was the operations hub for all Air Command activities as well as acting as the “red air” tasking agency for ECADEX, coordinating more than 200 “red air” sorties.

Air Commander Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife was impressed with the outcomes from the deployment of the AOC.
“Managing air operations from a remote location is an essential capability for Air Command that will be developed further into Air Command’s future concept of operations,” he said.

“During this exercise, the entire operation of Air Command was transferred to the deployed facility.”

Wing Commander Robert Drinkwater, Director of Operations at Headquarters Air Command, said that the deployable AOC provided Headquarters Air Command personnel the opportunity to practice managing all of Air Command’s day-to-day operations from an unfamiliar and austere environment, which included the Air Commander’s daily brief via video conference.

“This was the first time that we have tested the deployable AOC functionality and it provided a good opportunity for us to practise our skills in a different environment. We learnt a lot of valuable lessons for future deployments,” he said.

No. 386 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron established the infrastructure to support the AOC, with No. 1 Combat Communications Squadron providing its communications requirements.

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