Command and control a 24/7 operation

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Brian Ferguson
  • U.S. Central Command Air Forces Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  The Combined Air Operations Center here, also known as the CAOC, is the command and control hub for all air operations within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. 

Staffed and monitored around-the-clock, the coalition professionals working in the CAOC can seamlessly perform command and control of air and space forces in and across the 5,400-mile USCENTCOM area.

“We are here to provide air power for the ground forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Brabson, director of combat operations at the CAOC. “When they call in for air support we are there, 24/7.”

That support for coalition forces extends to ground or air by way of close-air support for troops in contact with the enemy; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; aerial refueling; or airlift. Each method of support is orchestrated through the CAOC liaisons.

The CAOC staff has two sides of support. The "light side" is where air tasking orders are born; the "dark side" is where liaisons watch real-time surveillance footage of Iraq and Afghanistan on giant screens. Servicemembers from various services and countries pack the floor, all with the same goal in mind: providing the best possible air and space power support to the ground force commander.

“I’ve flown front-line fighters for 16 to 17 years,” said Royal Air Force Wing Commander Colin Dasilva, chief of combat operations. “As a fighter pilot, it’s very easy to sit in my cockpit and see my bit of the operation, but here I see how the whole thing fits together. There’s a whole map of things going on to achieve that one aim.”

Make no mistake about it; the CAOC is not just people in a work area. It is a weapon and mobility system manned with joint and coalition personnel trained to employ tools and processes.
 
“In the same way an aircraft is deployed to deliver bombs, we are positioned here to effectively deliver air power across the AOR,” Colonel Brabson said.

United States forces are not the only forces flying missions. Coalition partners bring critical support, by way of personnel, capabilities and an international face to the fight.

“I can’t say enough about our coalition partners and the support they provide. It’s truly fantastic,” Colonel Brabson said. “We have British and French aircraft doing kinetic operations and coupled with the Japanese, Koreans and Australians, all coming together to make this a truly joint operation.”

The CAOC has five sections: strategy; combat plans; combat operations; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and air mobility. Each section is then broken down into divisions. These sections combine air power planning and fused intelligence to produce an integrated air tasking order, essentially the combat and airlift plans for the next day.

It takes coordination on all parts to accomplish the air tasking order, but that is just the start. When the flights take place, another set of liaisons get to work tracking the flights, and the cycle starts over.

No one person is more important than any other, Commander Dasilva said. He said that everyone pulls together to accomplish the goal. That goal: continue providing the best possible support to coalition ground forces and take the fight to the enemy -- to fly, fight and win.