On 25 January 2024, Major General Mollard, Commander EATC, and Brigadier General Best, Chief of Staff, visited the BATS Squadron in Evreux (France).
The Commanders of the Evreux airbase “105” and of the BATS C-130J "Rhein/Rhin" warmly welcomed the guests. They presented the squadron from all its perspectives, from the hosting airbase to the maintenance and training facilities, from the operational processes to the deployments. They highlighted the milestones reached in the past years and the way ahead. Today, the BATS is operating eight French and German C130J/KC130Js and the unit is looking forward to being complete in 2024 with ten assets. In November 2023, the BATS celebrated the unit’s first 10,000 flying hours with among others successful French and German missions to Africa and the Middle East.
The generals also visited the brand new C-130J training center that allows the crews to train on sophisticated state-of-the-art simulators. In due time, the training center will also be available to crews from other nations.
Major General Mollard was impressed by his visit. He congratulated both the squadron and airbase for their commitment and excellent work. To the Commander EATC, “BATS demonstrates on a daily basis that working together amplifies success. This is also what we at EATC stand for.”
General Mollard highlights that “BATS translates at “unit” level the concept of pooling and sharing into reality. Every day, French and German soldiers perform, together, cross activities at all level and without any limitation. This is a perfect example of full interoperability and operational success, for the benefit of all of us.”
* French-German Binational Air Transport Squadron