The Sixteenth Air Force is a United States Air Force (USAF) organization responsible for information warfare, which encompasses intelligence gathering and analysis, surveillance, reconnaissance, cyber warfare and electronic warfare operations. Its headquarters is at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in Texas.
The German Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of then West Germany. After the reunification of West and East Germany in 1990, it integrated parts of the air force of the former German Democratic Republic, which itself had been founded in 1956 as part of the National People's Army. There is no organizational continuity between the current German Air Force and the former Luftwaffe of the Wehrmacht founded in 1935, which was completely disbanded in 1945/46 after World War II. The term Luftwaffe that is used for both the historic and the current German air force is the German-language generic designation of any air force.
The United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) is a United States Air Force major command (MAJCOM) and a component command of both United States European Command (USEUCOM) and United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM). As part of its mission, USAFE-AFAFRICA commands U.S. Air Force units pledged to NATO, maintaining combat-ready wings based from Great Britain to Turkey. USAFE-AFAFRICA plans, conducts, controls, coordinates and supports air and space operations in Europe, parts of Asia and all of Africa with the exception of Egypt to achieve U.S. national and NATO objectives based on taskings by the two combatant commanders.
An aggressor squadron or adversary squadron is a squadron that is trained to act as an opposing force in military wargames. Aggressor squadrons use enemy tactics, techniques, and procedures to give a realistic simulation of air combat. Since it is impractical to use actual enemy aircraft and equipment, surrogate aircraft are used to emulate potential adversaries.
Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was established 1 July 1993, with the realignment of Air Training Command and Air University.
Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located five miles (8.0 km) north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education and Training Command. The base is named in honor of Texas Senator John Morris Sheppard, a supporter of military preparations before World War II.
Exercise Red Flag is a two-week advanced aerial combat training exercise held several times a year by the United States Air Force. It aims to offer realistic air-combat training for military pilots and other flight crew members from the United States and allied countries.
Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) is the term used in the United States Armed Forces and some other military forces for a qualified service member who directs the action of combat aircraft engaged in close air support and other offensive air operations from a forward position. The term that is used in most other countries, as well as previously in the US and in the relevant NATO standard is Forward Air Controller. The term became effective in the US on September 3, 2003 with the publishing of Joint Publication (JP) 3-09.3 Close Air Support.
Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake, abbreviated as CFB Cold Lake, is a Canadian Forces Base in the City of Cold Lake, Alberta.
The Air Operations Branch is a personnel branch of the Canadian Forces (CF). All members of the branch wear air force uniform.
The 178th Wing is a unit of the Ohio Air National Guard, stationed at the Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport ANG complex, Springfield, Ohio. If activated to federal service, the wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC), with elements of the wing gained by the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA).
Albacete Airport is an airport operated by Aena located about 4 miles south of the city of Albacete, the capital of the province of Albacete in Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It shares the runway and some facilities with Los Llanos Air Base, operated by the Spanish Air Force.
Florennes Air Base is a Belgian Air Component military airfield located 2 nautical miles east southeast of Florennes, a Walloon municipality of Belgium. It is home to the 2nd Tactical Wing, operating F-16 Fighting Falcons. It also used to be the home to the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), a joint training program formed by ten NATO members. On July 31, 2009, TLP moved to Albacete in Spain.
The NATO Training Mission-Iraq (NTM-I) was established in 2004 at the request of the Iraqi Interim Government under the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1546. The aim of NTM-I was to assist in the development of Iraqi security forces training structures and institutions so that Iraq could build an effective and sustainable capability that addressed the needs of the nation. NTM-I was not a combat mission but was a distinct mission, under the political control of NATO's North Atlantic Council. Its operational emphasis was on training and mentoring. The activities of the mission were coordinated with Iraqi authorities and the US-led Deputy Commanding General Advising and Training, who was also dual-hatted as the Commander of NTM-I. The mission came to an end in December 2011.
The 162d Attack Squadron is a unit of the Ohio Air National Guard 178th Wing located at Springfield Air National Guard Base, Springfield, Ohio. The 162d is equipped with the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper UAV.
A squadron in air force, army aviation, or naval aviation is a unit comprising a number of military aircraft and their aircrews, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force. Land based squadrons equipped with heavier type aircraft such as long-range bombers, cargo aircraft, or air refueling tankers have around 12 aircraft as a typical authorization, while most land-based fighter equipped units have an authorized number of 18 to 24 aircraft.
Philip Mark Breedlove is a retired four-star general in the United States Air Force who served as the commander of U.S. European Command, as well as the 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) of NATO Allied Command Operations, from May 2013 until May 4, 2016. He previously served as the commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe, which he concurrently served as commander of U.S. Air Forces Africa, commander of Air Component Command, Ramstein, and director of Joint Air Power Competence Center. He previously served as the 36th vice chief of staff of the United States Air Force from January 14, 2011, to July 27, 2012. On 10 May 2013, in a ceremony in Stuttgart, Germany, Breedlove took over the command of USEUCOM. Three days later, on May 13, 2013, he assumed command as SACEUR.
Lieutenant General Joseph Jacques Charles "Charlie" Bouchard is a retired Royal Canadian Air Force general. He has served as Commander of 1 Canadian Air Division / Canadian NORAD Region, the Deputy Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Deputy Commander of Allied Joint Force Command Naples. On 25 March 2011, Bouchard was named Commander of the NATO military mission in Libya.
On 26 January 2015, an F-16 jet fighter of the Hellenic Air Force crashed into the flight line at Los Llanos Air Base in Albacete, Spain, killing 11 people: the two crew members and nine on the ground. Twenty-one others, all on the ground, were also injured.
Jeffrey Lee Harrigian is a retired United States Air Force general who last served as the commander of United States Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa from May 2020 to June 2022. He concurrently served as the commander of Allied Air Command and director of the Joint Air Power Competence Center. He previously served as deputy commander and as commander of United States Air Forces Central Command. Raised in Sparks, Nevada, he graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in International Affairs and was commissioned in 1985. He assumed his capstone assignment on May 1, 2019.
