The military device against Daesh. A coalition headquarters in Qatar
(BRUSSELS2) Coalition operations in Iraq and Syria are led by a coalition headquarters, located in Al Udeid in Qatar in the American base, served by the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing.
Three other bases serve the partners of the international coalition: Azraq in Jordan which offers the advantage of allowing direct and rapid access to Iraqi territory (Fallujah and Mosul are less than 1 hour away by flight, between 700 and 800 km), Al Dhafra; the British base of Akrotiri located on the island of Cyprus (which puts the north of Iraq at approximately 1 hour flight); the American base of Al Dhafra which is a little further (approx. 1500 km from Fallujah and 1800 km from Tikrit). NB: The entry of Turkey into the coalition and the provision of air bases would significantly bring the theater of operations closer, allowing both to shorten the flight time, the number of supplies and, therefore, to increase the number of steals and strikes.
Each nation participating in the operation has delegated one or more liaison officers, in particular a "Red Holder" officer, responsible for ensuring compliance with the "caveats". It is his responsibility to indicate whether the mission entrusted to "his" soldiers is in accordance with the mandate defined by the government and/or parliament. The designation of tasks is essentially made by the American General Staff.
The majority of this coalition headquarters is, in fact, provided by the Americans, under the direction of Marine General John Allen. Similarly, SAR (search and rescue) operations if a pilot is damaged during a mission are carried out by the Americans. The 379th Expeditionary Medical Group has opened a new medical area at the base of Al Udeid to facilitate the transit of patients.
- Read also about the Club: Airstrikes, armaments, training… What European countries are doing in Iraq
John Allen a good connoisseur of Iraq
John Allen is a coalition operations and Iraq specialist. He led the international coalition in Afghanistan (Isaf) from 2011 to 2013, also overseeing part of the American withdrawal after the 2009 "surge". He was previously second in command of Centcom, the American command in charge of operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, after leading the US coalition in western Iraq from 2006 to 2008. He notably distinguished himself there by the strategy followed, consisting in detaching certain Sunni tribal leaders from Al-Qaeda. He was almost named supreme commander of NATO forces (Saceur) in October 2012, but his appointment was rescinded due to a privacy issue.
- Read also: Allen jumps, NATO jumps
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
