Today the “Open Skies Treaty (OST) Aerial Observation Course” has been completed in RACVIAC. Since 2002 RACVIAC has been organizing courses on the “Treaty on Open Skies (OST)”. These courses have become some of the most distinctive RACVIAC products in which the synergy of several institutions comes into play. This year the Course was hosted by Croatia and supported by Germany.
The Course gathered participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina (2), Croatia (2), North Macedonia (2), the Netherlands (1), RACVIAC (2) and Romania (2). Both senior and junior military personnel dealing with OST took part in the event.
During the second week of the Course (28 – 31 March) the “Pleso” airbase, 91st Wing CR AF, was the location of the event. The activities were carried out in compliance with the OST and in accordance with the time schedule of a real OS mission. This phase included the training in point of entry (POE) procedures, real life meteorological and ATC briefings, pre-flight inspection, mission plan negotiation and mission plan review, preparation for the observation flights, observation flights, as well as the development of the aerial photographs, preparation and signature of the mission report.
The participants were given detailed explanations about the different computer systems used by Romania for the mission planning, mission plan and flight data verification. Also, the Romanian AN-30 aircraft and the installed observation system were presented in detail by the Romanian OS team. During the training flight the participants gained insights into the duties of the observing as well as of the escort team as well as into the operational aspects of conducting a flight.
As the purpose of the Course was to train personnel of SEE countries to plan, organize and execute an “Areal Observation Mission” based on the provisions of the OST and thus increase the administrative capacity in the field of security cooperation, RACVIAC was privileged to host lecturers from Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary and also from the Romanian Air Force. They were ready to share their experience and knowledge with all participants and the excellent lecturers covered all topics in a most efficient way also sharing their personal experiences gained during real OS missions.
The Course has been considered a great success achieving all of its objectives. The highly professional lecturers as well as the extremely active participants have contributed to the excellent outcome. In addition, the training observation flights, as a unique opportunity for practical training, have also been a significant element contributing to the success of the Course.
