RAMSTEIN, Germany – NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) has completed the second two-week long Joint Force Air Component Applied Targeting Course (JATC) in 2026. The course focuses on NATO targeting processes in crisis and conflict and is designed to strengthen the skills required to provide targeting support within a Joint Force Air Component (JFAC).
Participants from across Allied Command Operations’ targeting enterprise are the primary audience, but the course is also tailored to support commanders and decision-makers across the Alliance, who depend on sound targeting expertise in support of operational decisions. Everyone involved in the targeting process needs to understand how potential collateral damage is assessed and how the risk can be reduced when targets are developed, selected, and prosecuted. Considerations such as pattern of life, military necessity and proportionality, as well as the potential impact on cultural property and critical infrastructure, are an important part of the targeting process.
By sharing knowledge and applying the same targeting procedures, we are better prepared to integrate personnel from across the Alliance
“Interoperability starts with a common understanding of how we operate,” said U.S. Colonel Michael Welch, Director of the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) division at NATO Allied Air Command. “By sharing knowledge and applying the same targeting procedures, we are better prepared to integrate personnel from across the Alliance and helps ensure we can work effectively as one team when it matters most.”
Effective targeting requires more than decision-making. It requires an understanding of the processes, responsibilities and information that underpin it.
JATC provides participants with the knowledge and practical skills needed to support targeting within a JFAC, while strengthening their broader understanding of NATO Joint Targeting in peacetime, crisis and conflict.
The course also develops participants’ understanding of responsibilities at the strategic, operational and tactical levels; how the JFAC supports a Joint Force Command during military operations; and how applied targeting is conducted through the JFAC Battle Wheel.
By hosting and delivering JATC, AIRCOM contributes directly to developing targeting expertise across the NATO Command Structure and improving the ability of personnel to support air component planning and operations.
As part of the course, participants visited an operational fighter base hosted by the French Air and Space Force and the U.S. Air Force. During the field trip, students received an introduction to how missions are planned and executed, linking classroom instruction with activity at an operational fighter base.
Targeting plays an integral role in NATO Air Defence operations and training events, such as Find, Fix, Track, and Target (F2T2). F2T2 exercises are designed to improve cohesion by integrating ISR assets with strike-capable aircraft in real-time targeting scenarios. The lessons learned from the JATC will help hone operators’ skills in more effectively executing F2T2s and other targeting activities.
NATO Allied Air Command (AIRCOM) hosted the second two-week long Joint Force Air Component Applied Targeting Course (JATC) in 2026. The course focuses on NATO targeting processes in crisis and conflict and is designed to strengthen the skills required to provide targeting support within a Joint Force Air Component (JFAC). Photo by OR-9 Fanny Chesiere, NATO Allied Air Command.