Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Chapter 14
<strong>the</strong> NATO Response Force air component comm<strong>and</strong> alongside <strong>the</strong> Royal <strong>Air</strong> Force. 635
French structures <strong>and</strong> national procedures were fully interoperable with NATO <strong>and</strong> hence
allowed smooth integration of allied air forces. 636 Without this shift of emphasis upon
interoperability <strong>and</strong> conventional forces, <strong>the</strong> French <strong>Air</strong> Force could have impossibly
been in a position to swiftly plug into Operation Enduring Freedom. Compared to
French performance in Desert Storm, French participation in Enduring Freedom meant a
quantum leap. As such, <strong>the</strong> post-Cold War era basically led to an emancipation of French
conventional forces.
Not only did <strong>the</strong> French <strong>Air</strong> Force make significant steps in improving its comm<strong>and</strong>
<strong>and</strong> control capabilities, but so did <strong>the</strong> German <strong>Air</strong> Force. During <strong>the</strong> Cold War era, <strong>the</strong>
German <strong>Air</strong> Force had no means at its disposal to conduct air combat operations above
<strong>the</strong> wing level <strong>and</strong> fully hinged upon NATO comm<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> control structures. In <strong>the</strong>
post-Cold War era, with an increasing German commitment to out-of-area operations,
a national capacity for <strong>the</strong> planning, conduct, <strong>and</strong> comm<strong>and</strong> of air combat operations
became necessary. In late 2001, <strong>the</strong> German <strong>Air</strong> Force established its operations comm<strong>and</strong>
(Komm<strong>and</strong>o Operative Führung Luftstreitkräfte). For <strong>the</strong> first time in its history, <strong>the</strong> German
<strong>Air</strong> Force received an autonomous capacity for <strong>the</strong> tactical <strong>and</strong> operational planning
of air operations. The GAF <strong>Air</strong> Operations Comm<strong>and</strong> had been primarily designed as
a national nucleus for a multi-national combined joint force air component comm<strong>and</strong>
headquarters against <strong>the</strong> backdrop of NATO or EU operations. 637 As such, <strong>the</strong> GAF
<strong>Air</strong> Operations Comm<strong>and</strong> will enable Germany to act as <strong>the</strong> lead nation AIR in multinational
operations. 638
Development of a European F-16 Expeditionary <strong>Air</strong> Wing
The Royal Ne<strong>the</strong>rl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>Air</strong> Force is among <strong>the</strong> main architects of supra-national defence
ventures in Europe. In particular, it was <strong>the</strong> driving force behind <strong>the</strong> establishment of
<strong>the</strong> above-mentioned European Participating <strong>Air</strong> Forces’ Expeditionary <strong>Air</strong> Wing, which is
basically a multi-national European F-16 wing.
The European Participating <strong>Air</strong> Forces’ Expeditionary <strong>Air</strong> Wing has its roots back in
<strong>the</strong> early 1990s when <strong>the</strong> air operations over <strong>the</strong> former Yugoslavia were in full steam.
In October 1994, <strong>the</strong> Royal Ne<strong>the</strong>rl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>Air</strong> Force <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Belgian <strong>Air</strong> Force signed a
Memor<strong>and</strong>um of Underst<strong>and</strong>ing. They intended that <strong>the</strong> Belgians would take on about
one-third of <strong>the</strong> Royal Ne<strong>the</strong>rl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>Air</strong> Force’s efforts in Operation Deny Flight. Yet <strong>the</strong>
first Belgian pilots were deployed to Italy only in October 1996, well after operations Deny
Flight <strong>and</strong> Deliberate Force. 639 This bilateral co-operative venture was called Deployable
<strong>Air</strong> Task Force (DATF), <strong>and</strong> co-operation was particularly enhanced through participation
<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 249