On Friday 13 September 2024, Major-General Franck Mollard, EATC Commander, warmly welcomed the recently appointed State Secretary for Defence of the Netherlands, Mr. Gijs Tuinman. It was Mr. Tuinman’s first visit to EATC.
General Mollard guided his guest on an interactive tour through the EATC facilities and introduced EATC's business model based on the sharing and pooling of air mobility capabilities and the exchange of experience and expertise. As an integrated part of the tour, EATC’s experts informed Mr. Tuinman and his delegation on the operational processes, presented EATC's functional domain and showcased the latest successes in the areas of transport, training, air-to-air refuelling and medical evacuations. The guests also visited the mission control centre which monitors EATC’s flight activities on a 24/7 basis.
Mr. Tuinman congratulated the Commander on EATC’s achievements and raising role within EU and NATO. He confirmed that pooling and sharing are key to international cooperation and that EATC is a textbook example in this respect. He also expressed his appreciation for the results achieved in relation to the Lighthouse Project and the standardization and cross-maintenance amongst the seven member nations.
Finally, Mr. Tuinman had an exchange with representatives of the Dutch contingent at EATC. On this occasion, past experiences and future challenges were discussed.