Personnel from the RAF have graduated from the Advanced Tactical Leadership Course (ATLC) held at Al Dhafra Air Base in the UAE.
At a ceremony held in the Armed Forces Officers Club in Abu Dhabi, the three participants from the RAF were presented with their certificates and congratulated by the Commander of the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, Maj Gen Staff Pilot, Ibrahim Nasser Mohamed Al Alawi.
The graduation comes at the end of five weeks of intense mission planning and flying which saw nearly 900 sorties flown and 1200 flying hours completed. During the course the graduating RAF pilot led multi-national Large Force Employment missions, worked alongside Coalition partners and demonstrated their ability to lead and fly with their contemporaries in advanced aerial combat in a contested environment.
Two Intelligence Officers provided mission planning support, detailing enemy activity, including live adversary aircraft and simulated ground-based air defence systems, in realistic high tempo scenarios.
Today we are here to reflect not just the achievements of the Air Forces and Air Defence but also the achievements of our graduates. We thank those who have given their support to another successful course, having flown 897 sorties, more sorties than any previous Advanced Tactical Leadership Course. I applaud you all for supporting the course despite ongoing operations and commitments … many of your personnel will now join these operations. Advanced Tactical Leadership Course 32 has seen modifications to ensure it remains current, critical and challenging. You can be truly proud; this is a very tough course and you have met the challenges.
Brigadier Staff Pilot Khalid Al Marzouqi
UAE Air Warfare Centre Commander
The course was attended by 10 nationalities, including the UAE, United States, Australian, German, Omani, French, Hellenic and Royal Air Forces, deploying around 45 aircraft and 500 personnel.
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RAF Typhoons joined Tornados, F-15s, F-16s and Mirage 2000s in the skies over the UAE undertaking a variety of Defensive Counter and Offensive Counter Air, Close Air Support and Air Interdiction missions testing the reactions of pilots in a variety of situations.
Training participants in advanced aerial combat and the command-and-control function is vital: gaining an understanding of the processes involved in large scale mission planning and delivery of Air Power is critical to interoperability and collective readiness, and key to the deterrence of potential adversaries.
