Focus, effort to stay the same as
Balkans air operations undergo changes
By Kent Harris, Stars
and Stripes
Brig. Gen. Frederick Van
Valkenburg Jr. |
The command responsible for all aircraft flying over and into Kosovo and Bosnia and
Herzegovina officially changed its name, commander and even base of operations Friday.
But its outgoing commander, U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Frederick Van Valkenburg Jr. said
the mission will stay the same, and those who might take the move as a sign that NATO
— and the United States in particular — is downgrading the importance of the air
mission over Bosnia are mistaken.
"There is no change in focus. There is no change in the level of effort," Van
Valkenburg said from his office in Vicenza, Italy.
Still, there are several changes regarding the command that has watched over the skies
of Bosnia — and later Kosovo — since it was created by the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization in 1993:
¶ The most basic is the name. The Balkans Combined Air Operations Centre will no
longer exist.
Its functions are being absorbed by the Combined Air Operations Centre 5.
CAOC5 was formed in September 1999 and has responsibility for the airspace over Italy
and Hungary.
¶ CAOC5 is located in Poggio Renatico in the town of Ferrara, Italy, close to Bologna.
The Balkans command operations officially cease in Vicenza on Monday and start in
Ferrara.
Much of the command’s workload had already been shifted there during the past
several months.
The reason for the move, according to Van Valkenburg, is the Italians want to use Dal
Molin, the base in Vicenza that has housed the BCAOC, for other purposes.
¶ Van Valkenburg gives way to Italian Lt. Gen. Giovanni Sciandra. It will mark the
first time an American general has not led the command. A Hungarian will hold the No. 2
spot.
The highest-ranking American in Ferrara will be a colonel.
Van Valkenburg will head to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, on Saturday to take over as
commander of the 37th Training Wing, Air Education and Training Command.
He said flights over and into Bosnia and Kosovo can be divided into three areas.
The one that receives the most attention is the strategic presence.
Fighters take off daily from Aviano Air Base, Italy, and other allied bases in Europe
for patrols over the area.
But, Van Valkenburg said, "That's a minimal part of what we do on a daily
basis."
It was a major part of what the command did initially, he added, but because of a lack
of hostile aircraft, the need for fighters has lessened.
At the same time, the number of airlift flights — bringing in material and people
— has steadily increased.
There are currently "hundreds of civilian and military carriers," Van
Valkenburg said.
The third area has been the most constant. That’s intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance.
Van Valkenburg calls this area "the most crucial."
These flights give commanders on the ground solid information on the disposition of
various groups and the terrain.
He declined to say where those flights originate, but said many of them are carried out
by other NATO members.
In fact, most of the military flights over Bosnia and Kosovo are currently carried out
by allies.
Van Valkenburg estimated that the United States contributes only about 10 percent to 15
percent of them.
"It’s significantly less than it was during Allied Force," Van
Valkenburg said.
During the bombing campaign over Yugoslavia, Americans contributed more than 60 percent
of the flights.
That disparity led to charges from some in Congress and others that other alliance
members weren’t carrying their weight.
The Bush Administration went a step further during the presidential campaign, saying it
wanted to take U.S. troops out of the Balkans as soon as possible, and allies in Europe
should take more responsibility.
Van Valkenburg said Europeans have done that, but the CAOC’s changes aren’t
directly tied to that.
"I really wouldn’t connect the two as far as the [European] expansion
goes," he said.
And he said that NATO’s air presence over the Balkans skies isn’t likely to
disappear anytime soon.
He said, during his 17 months, the command has reduced its strength by about half,
mostly on the tactical side.
But until civilian authorities are ready to take over in Bosnia and Kosovo, a NATO
command is the only real option.
American Lt. Gen. Ronald Keys, commander of Allied Air Forces Southern Europe, oversees
the CAOC’s operations from his office in Naples while wearing his NATO hat.
Keys is the commander of the 16th Air Force, based at Aviano, while wearing his U.S.
hat.
He and Italian Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Sandro Ferracuti, were both present at
Friday’s ceremony in Vicenza, along with other dignitaries.
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