he Tactical Leadership
Programme (TLP)
began multinational
flying training operations
at Fürstenfeldbruck, West
Germany, in 1978, and
moved to Jever, in the same
country, a year later. Back
then, few could have foreseen
how Europe’s military aviation
scene would change in the following
decades. However, TLP has always reflected
political and military upheavals, adapting
from the scenarios of the Cold War to
21st-century counter-insurgency conflicts.
At the beginning, TLP courses consisted
mainly of aircrew drawn from the Second
and Fourth Allied Tactical Air Forces (2 and 4
ATAF) in Central and Western Europe and
including Canadian Forces Europe. In
1993, 2 and 4 ATAF were disbanded and
TLP began to see growing participation
from NATO air arms in southern Europe.
In 1989 TLP had moved from Jever to amore central position at Florennes,
Belgium. At its new home, TLP
became the only large-scale
multinational air exercise to
take place regularly from a
single European air base.
Over the years, the focus of the
exercise shifted – for example,
night flying in unrestricted airspace
became more important. Night-time
restrictions and limited airspace meant
this kind of training was not always
possible at Florennes, requiring
deployed flying
courses at other
airfields.40 YEARS OF
T
Flying and non-flying courses are now hosted
at Albacete-Los Llanos, after TLP moved to the
Spanish air base in July 2009. At Albacete,
every exercise can feature night
flying in unrestricted airspace,
and the base’s southern
location ensures good
weather conditions
throughout the
year.
scene would change in the following
decades. However, TLP has always reflectedmore central position at Florennes,
Belgium. At its new home, TLP
became the only large-scale
multinational air exercise toexercise shifted – for example,
night flying in unrestricted airspace
became more important. Night-time
restrictions and limited airspace meant
this kind of training was not alwaysRight: In a scene typical of TLP at Albacete,
Italian Air Force F-2000A MM7325 ‘36-44’
of 36° Stormo leads out a Sniper-equipped
Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16AM. The
jets were taking part in TLP 2018-1 – the fi rst
course this year. Stephan de BruijnTactical Leadership Programme
80 // JUNE 2018 #363 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com