Spanish Air Force Order of Battle

Location of Air Bases in Spain

The order of battle of the Spanish Air Force are the separate parts or sections of the air arm as a whole, divided in order to improve military coordination. The Air Force is under the command of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General José Jiménez Ruiz, and is structured in:

• General Headquarters (Cuartel General)
• Air Force (Fuerza Aérea)
• Air Force Support (Apoyo a la Fuerza)^[1]

Historical background

The present-day command structure of the Spanish Air Force issued from a Government decree dated 2d October 1935 of the Spanish Republican Government that placed the Dirección General de Aeronáutica under the authority of a specific ministry, known then as the War Ministry, Ministerio de la Guerra, instead of being under the Presidencia del Gobierno. Following that decree, the Air Force regional units became restructured in 1936. Accordingly, the Spanish Navy-based Escuadra model was replaced by Región Militar divisions which are still operative today.^[2] Nowadays the Spanish Air Force is still under a separate ministry, the Ministerio de Defensa.

After the Spanish Civil War the bulk of the Spanish Armed Forces changes were introduced within the regional structure, following which all relevant air bases would be withdrawn from Catalonia, a former key region in the development of the Aeronáutica Militar, the Spanish Air Force in its early days. Even though before and during the Civil War important air bases had been established in or around Barcelona, like the Aviación Naval, henceforward the whole northeastern area of Spain would be left with mere token presence of the Spanish Air Force. The situation is similar in the Basque Country as well, with the difference that there had not been any important air bases there before the conflict that shaped the present structure. While Galicia has no significant Air Force Base within its territory, it has nevertheless a very important Naval Base at Ferrol.^[3]

The Air Regions and their Command centres after the changes introduced during the Spanish State dictatorship became the following:

MACEN

Mando Aéreo del Centro Madrid

MAEST

Mando Aéreo del Estrecho

MALEV

Mando Aéreo de Levante Zaragoza

MACAN

Mando Aéreo de Canarias Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

See also

• Spanish Air Force
• Spanish Armed Forces

References

External links

• Home page of the Spanish Air Force (Spanish)
• Ministerio de Defensa - Organización (Spanish)