On 26 and 27 October 2022, Major General Andreas Schick, Commander EATC, visited the third edition of the Advanced Combined Air Terminal Training. He was impressed by what he experienced during his visit : “It was a great opportunity to visit the training sessions and see first-hand how the trainees from EATC, EU and NATO nations* train together passenger check-in, cargo preparation or C-17 loading. But ACATT is not only about training ground handling, it is also about exchanging experiences and learning from each other in a truly multinational environment. Congratulations to all of you and my compliments to the cross-national team of mentors who assured the success of ACATT 2022-2 through their professionalism and commitment.”
For the first time, ACATT took place at Pápa Air Base, Hungary and was hosted by the Heavy Airlift Wing (HAW). General Schick thanked the Deputy Base Commander of the Pápa Air Base, Lieutenant-Colonel Turzó, as well as Colonel Söderström, HAW Commander, congratulating them for the first-rate support to EATC and ACATT 2022-2. “This has been an excellent experience for my team and I more than welcome the proposal to continue the cooperation with the HAW for future EATC training opportunities. I also welcome Colonel Söderström’s decision to use EATC’s EGOM to develop the HAW’s ground handling manual. Please be assured that my staff will support you whenever needed to standardise common ground handling procedures and to increase interoperability.”
EATC took over the lead of (A)CATT in 2016 from the European Air Group and offers a recognized cross-national ground handling training for EATC nations and partners, based on EATC’s Ground Operations Manual. General Schick underlines that “thanks to our qualified training, ground handling experts are certified to inter-operate, a must for the success of ground handling during common operations. As an example: during the airlift training, ETAP-T, in June 2022, 65% of the ground handlers were certified by EATC and thus operational as of day one.”
General Schick also took the opportunity to visit the Heavy Airlift Wing under the distinguished guidance of Colonel Söderström. For more information on the Heavy Airlift Wing , read here.
* Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, as well as Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania and the United States.