JAPCC Chairs and Hosts 47th NATO Air Operations Working Group

Kalkar, Germany. Delegates from 12 NATO nations and observers from 6 Allied and international organizations attended the 47th NATO Air Operations Working Group (AOWG) in Kalkar, Germany on 3 and 4 December, 2018. One of 18 working groups, syndicates or forums that report to the NATO Military Committee Air Standardization Board (MCASB), the AOWG is responsible for increasing Allied air and space capability through standardization and for decreasing duplication of effort. Along with the Joint, Land, Maritime, Medical and Logistics Standardization Boards, the Air Standardization Board takes direction from and reports progress of its sub-groups to the NATO Military Committee.

Led by Brigadier General Giuseppe Sgamba, the JAPCC Assistant Director and AOWG Chairman, delegates exchanged information about ongoing national projects related to air and space and decided on several definitions of terminology. Once approved by parent working groups, the terms and definitions will be available for use across NATO publications, training, and operations. Delegates also discussed the status of the 14 Allied documents which the Working Group manages including Allied Joint Doctrine for Air and Space Operations and Guidance for the Training of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operators.

Delegates to the 47th AOWG represented the nations of CAN, DEU, GBR, USA, ITA, NLD, BEL, POL and ROU. While official delegates consist of NATO Member State heads of delegation, other nations and organisations may be invited to join as observers to further standardisation and decrease overlap. Observers of this meeting represented Allied Air Command (AIRCOM), NATO Maritime Air Command (MARAIRNATO), the NATO Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), the NATO Air Operations Center of Excellence (CASPOA) and the NATO Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC).

The 2019 Spring AOWG will be hosted by NATO AIRCOM in Ramstein, Germany. Invitation letters will be managed via the NATO Standardization Office (NSO). For more information about working groups, processes and documents managed by the NSO, please visit www.nso.nato.int. To stay informed of JAPCC events visit www.japcc.org or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.