Following changes in the scale of the Air
Force’s missions and responsibilities, the position of Chief of the Air Group
will be divided by two brigadier generals and a new officer will be appointed to
oversee coordination with the Ground Forces. These represent the most
significant structural change in the Air Force has undergone since the Yom
Kippur War.
The changes were required in response to
the changing nature of the threats with which the IDF will contend in the coming
years, as they enable the Israel Air
Force to better respond to the shifting geopolitical climate in the Middle
East and to the changing nature of combat. Under these changes, the Chief of IAF
Air Group position will be split into two positions – Chief of Aerial Operations
and Chief of the Air Group, which will deal with instruction and training.
The role of Chief of Aerial Operations will
be filled by Brigadier General Tomer Bar, the current commander of the Tel Nof
Airbase. The current commander of the Hatzerim Airbase, Brigadier General Tal
Kalman, will be appointed as Chief of the Air Group.
The Operations Division will now come under
the command of the Chief of Aerial Operations and will consist of three colonels
who will oversee all operations divided into the following categories: strike
operations; defensive operations (including most of the active air and
missile-defense systems); and joint operations with the IDF Ground Forces.
The Air Intelligence Group will also be
augmented by a new operations division which will oversee effective coordination
between intelligence and operations in the Air Force.
The operations staff of the Israel Air Force
has not undergone organizational restructuring on this scale for the past forty
years. The historic change represents more than just an expansion of positions,
it reflects the wider growing expectations and responsibilities borne by the Air
Force in the current age of regional uncertainty.
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