CAOC nerve center for air operations
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Maj. Chris Holinger tracks an ongoing Operation Southern Watch mission inside the Combined Air Operations Center at a forward-deployed base. Spanning nearly 30,000 square feet, the CAOC is the nerve center for all U.S. Central Command air operations. With crews operating around the clock, CAOC officials plan, control and track all coalition missions throughout the region. They also direct time-sensitive targeting, battlefield coordination, theater missile defense, joint search and rescue, special operations support and other mission critical operations. Holinger is a Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft liaison officer with the 363rd Expeditionary Air Command and Control Squadron. He is deployed from the 116th Air Control Wing at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. (Photo by Royal Air Force Sgt. Gareth Davies)