This was the seventh iteration of this series of courses, and the third edition in a row to follow the new organisational concept of remaining at one permanent course location (Albacete) and relying on a Host Nation (HN) and Framework Nation (FN) concept. APROC was previously held annually at different locations and Nations throughout Europe.
Thanks to the outstanding support provided by Spain as HN , the United Kingdom as FN this year , the hosting ALA-14 base and the Tactical Leadership Programme (TLP), paramount to support the EPRC Permanent Staff, during the period from 17 June to 28 June, around 350 personnel from 12 countries deployed to Albacete Airbase as either Training Audience, or in Support to the course, or as Observers.
Regarding the operational part of the course, Spain, France and Romania deployed to Spain their PR dedicated/designated assets for the duration of the course. Italy, even if was not taking part to the entire course, supported the flying activity by sending, during the second week, two fixed-wing assets to raise the course interaction in between one of the two PRTF. The aircraft & helicopters deployed by two service branches were EC-725 Caracal (FRA), NH-90 and SH-60 (ESP) as Recovery Vehicles, F-18 (ESP) as Fixed Wing RESCORT as well as IAR-330 (ROU) and NH-90 NFH (FRA) as Rotary Wing RESCORT. FRA added the presence of an MQ-9 planned to directly fly from its home base daily to support the missions in week2. This asset is a great enabler for APROC, as it has the possibility to stream real time data in order to support the C2 structure during the ongoing activity.
Moreover, Extraction Forces teams from ESP, FRA, GBR and ROU were part of the course’s primary Training Audience, beneficiating from a dedicated training during an extended academic and practical phase. In addition to these forces, DEU deployed a medical coordinator in order to add a more realistic and complex training to the forces that were been challenged on different medical scenarios. To support this training, ESP also deployed specialized moulage personnel that was fundamental to guarantee realism to the training.
During this APROC edition, crews also had the opportunity to train on the use of fast rope techniques, a skill that can most useful in non-permissive PR contexts.
Comprehensively, a total of 21 missions in two PRTFs, during 7 flying days, were planned and conducted, resulting in 75 sorties and over 128 flight hours by the participating aircraft and helicopters.
APROC, which is the successor course from the Combined Joint Personnel Recovery Standardisation Course (CJPRSC) and the Combined Joint Combat Search and Rescue Standardisation Course (CJCSARSC), a series of courses run by the European Air Group that started in 2007, is currently still the only European ‘live’ education opportunity that focuses entirely on Personnel Recovery (PR) Task Forces.
It aims to qualify selected personnel as Rescue Mission Commander (RMC) and to educate and train Aircrews and Extraction Forces in the implementation of internationally-agreed Tactics, Techniques and Procedures , by using the so called “4T” (Task, Target Threats and Tactics) training methodology.
Otherwise, following an experiment of Reintegration training for SERE Instructors & Psychologists, Team Leaders and Intel personnel conducted since 2022 alongside the APROC, a fully-fledged Basic Reintegration Debriefer Course was conducted during this edition, providing students with debriefing techniques and hands-on training, and then taking advantage of the integration with the APROC to debrief “real” returnees.
All of the various kinds of training offered by the APROC makes it a widely recognised and highly appreciated activity, that undoubtedly contributes to the building of an interoperable allied force that will be able to provide a viable PR capability for future operations.
