As part of Italian participation in the European Air Transport Command (European Air Transport Command - EATC), the 12 October 2016 the Italian Air Force chaired for the first time the Multinational Air Transport Committee (MATra.C.). This committee, composed of the Chiefs of Staff of the Air Forces of the seven participating countries (France, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy and Spain), is the body with the highest decision-making power and is placed hierarchically above the EATC. The chairmanship of the committee is rotational in nature, with two-year alternations.
The MATra.C. defines the guidelines and policy of the Command, establishes rules and procedures, approves the Peacetime Establishement (PE) and financial / budgetary aspects. It meets once a year, but can be convened extraordinarily at the request of the participating nations.
The operational arm of the committee is the commander of the EATC which is assigned the operational control (OPCON) of all air transport missions (air-lift), in-flight refueling (air-to-air refueling) and air-medical evacuation (aeromedical evacuation) as well as the burden of implementing all the directives and decisions of the committee in the structure. Before the commencement of the committee, the AM chief of staff, aerial team general Enzo Vecciarelli, met the Italian staff assigned to the EATC to which, underlining the importance of the Italian presence within the Command, he reiterated those who are were the inspiring principles of the "mission" and "vision" of the Air Force, concluding with an invitation to those present to "... think outside the box to improve the Armed Force".
The European Air Transport Command applies the concept of 'pooling & sharing' to the military air transport sector with the aim of improving and optimizing the management of available resources. Thanks to the use of a "common" fleet, larger than those of individual countries (20 different types of assets and about 200 aircraft), the EATC is able at any time to evaluate, and then "task", the aircraft that best suits the characteristics of the transport mission. The assets, although operating within a multinational context under the operational control of the EATC (Transfer of Authority - ToA), remain however under the chain of command and control of every single nation that, in case of particular national requirements, can reassume the control of it through the revocation of the ToA. The standardization of procedures and the diversity of the fleets made available to the EATC guarantee a unique flexibility of use and the opportunity continues to constantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness requirements of the Command.
The entry of the Air Force into the EATC officially took place on 4 December 2014 following the signing, in the presence of the Minister of Defense, by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force of the document that sanctioned the adhesion of the Italy. The Representation of the Air Force (RAMI), set up at the aforementioned Command, hierarchically depends on the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico (FE) which, by delegation of the commander of the air team, is assigned the power to exercise the “revoke ToA” mechanism when national needs require it. From 12 January 2016 (ToA of national assets) the Air Force, making available to the EATC some of the excellence of national military air transport, such as "refueling in flight" (AAR-AirtoAir Refueling) and transport in bio-containment, participates with a fleet of 31 aircraft between C-27J, C-130J and KC 767, belonging to the 46ª Air Brigade of Pisa and to the 14 ° Wing of Pratica di Mare.
