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commands and subordinate air sector headquarters could be employed in local tactical air operations.
2. Strength, composition, and disposition[1]
Total personnel strength is approximately 34,700, which includes 4,340 officers, 240 academy cadets, and 30,120 noncommissioned officers and other enlisted personnel. Pilot strength is slightly less than 1,400, most of whom are officers and the remainder noncommissioned officers. An additional 360 personnel are undergoing pilot training. The air force also employs about 11,000 civilians, primarily in technical and administrative capacities.
Total aircraft inventory is 999, which includes 59 jet all-weather fighter-bombers, 76 jet attack, 18 jet fighter reconnaissance, three jet light transports, seven prop light bombers, 163 prop light and medium transports, 552 trainers (150 jet, 402 prop), 39 helicopters (27 piston, 12 turbine), 11 prop anti-submarine warfare (ASW), three prop tankers, and 66 miscellaneous prop utility aircraft.
Approximately 85% of the inventory is assigned to the 24 operational squadrons, 24 assorted squadrons flights, and 13 training squadrons. With the exception of training aircraft assigned to the General Air Academy at San Javier Airbase, almost 90% of the assigned aircraft can be found at 12 airbases in continental Spain. Most of the remaining operational aircraft are based in the Canary Islands, from where they are deployed to Spanish Sahara in support of desert operations. A few aircraft are also based in the Balearic Islands. Air force operational units are as follows:
| Numbers and Types of Units | Aircraft Types |
|---|---|
| 4 all-weather fighter squadrons | Mirage III-E, F-4C Phantom |
| 6 fighter-bomber squadrons | SF-5A/B, RF-5A, HA-200, HA-220, T-6 Texan |
| 9 transport squadrons | C-47, C-54, Azor 207, DHC-4 |
| 1 anti-submarine warfare squadron | HU-16B |
| 1 tanker squadron | KC-97L |
| 3 search and rescue squadrons | HU-16A/B, DO-27, AB-205/206A, Bell-47 |
| 24 assorted squadrons/flights | Miscellaneous |
The air force reserve consists of an inactive force of 222,842, including 1,469 officers. They are assigned to the various geographic region commands and are called to active duty as the need arises. Since the reservists do not train, their ability to perform effectively when recalled would depend on how recently they had served on active duty.
3. Training
The air force has a thorough school system for developing basic and professional skills for both officer and enlisted personnel. The system is considered self-sufficient, with graduate quotas adequate to meet most existing military requirements. Although flight training is considered sufficient for military needs, the rapid growth of commercial aviation is luring away young officer pilots in ever increasing numbers. (There is no civil pilot training program in Spain.) Course curriculums are generally patterned after those of the US Air Force, and only in isolated and highly specialized cases in outside training assistance required. However, once a cadre of personnel has been trained with foreign assistance, the air force has demonstrated a capability of establishing and maintaining its own programs.
Officers recruited from civilian professions and those recruited for the General Air Academy are afforded professional and military training to prepare them for their appropriate assignments. Enlisted volunteers are given extensive technical and specialist training, but conscripts are given little such training because of their short term of required service. However, this training and available to those conscripts who have demonstrated ability and an interest in an air force career.
The Directorate of Training, subordinate to the Chief of the Air Force General Staff, is responsible for most air force training and training centers, academies, and schools under the cognizance of the Chief of the Air Force General Staff. Significant schools not under directorate control are the Superior Air School, the Cartography and Photography School, and the National Meteorological Institute, these are directly subordinate to the Chief of the Air Force General Staff, the Cartographic and Photographic Service, and the National Meteorological Service, respectively.
The highest level school in the air force system is the Superior Air School. This school provides a 2-year staff course for prospective staff officers and higher commanders and a 3-month command course which corresponds roughly to the US Air Force Air Command and Staff College. The command course is
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090014-1
- ↑ For regularly updated, detailed information see the Air Forces Intelligence Study and the Military Intelligence Summary, for aircraft inventory and order of battle see the Free World Air Order of Battle, all published by the Defense Intelligence Agency. For detailed information of Spanish air facilities see Airfields and Seaplane Stations of the World, Volumes 16 and 17. The Spanish Airfield system is summarized and some details of fields are even in the Transportation and Telecommunications chapter of the General Survey.
