page_title: Portuguese Air Force
section_title: Air component command
hierarchical_section_title: Portuguese Air Force / General organization / Air component command
caption_attribution_description: Comando Aéreo da Força Aérea - Lisboa - Portugal 🇵🇹
context_page_description: The Portuguese Air Force is the aerial warfare force of Portugal. Locally it’s referred to by the acronym FAP but internationally is often referred to by the acronym PoAF. It’s the youngest of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces.
  The Portuguese Air Force was formed on July 1, 1952, when the former Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval were united and formed an independent air branch of the Armed Forces.
  However, the remote origins of the FAP go back to the early 20th century with the establishment of the first military air unit in 1911, the Military Aeronautics School in 1914, the participation of Portuguese pilots in World War I, the establishment of the Army, and the Navy aviation services.
  The FAP is commanded by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, a subordinate of the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces for operational matters and a direct subordinate of the Minister of National Defense for all other matters. The CEMFA is the only officer in the Air Force with the rank of general.
  Presently, the FAP is an entirely professional force made of career personnel and of volunteer personnel.
context_section_description: The Air Command (Comando Aéreo, CA) is the air component command. It is commanded by a lieutenant-general directly reporting to the CEMFA, with a major-general pilot-aviator as the second-in-command. It is installed at the Air Force Monsanto hills complex in Lisbon, with its air operations centre being located in an underground bunker.
  The CA has the mission of supporting the exercise of command from the part of the CEMFA, in view of the preparation, the readying and the sustenance of the forces and means of the operational component of the system of forces, of the accomplishment of the missions regulated by particular legislation and other missions given to the Air Force, keeping the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces permanently informed of the employed forces and means and of the development and results of their respective operations, of the planning, command and control the air activity, of the administration and management of the units and bodies of the fixed component placed under its direct dependence and of the planning, guidance and control of the military security of the units and bodies of the Air Force.
  Besides the second-in-command, the CA includes also the air operations bodies, the operations support bodies, the Coordinating Office of the Air Force Military Security and the Support Group. The air operations bodies are headed by the Director of Air Operations, who is a brigadier-general. Under the command of the CA are the air zone commands, the air bases, the maneuver airfields, the transit airfields, the Firing Range, the radar stations and the training centres.
  The air zone commands have the mission of planning, supervising and controlling the readiness of the air power resources and the air activity in their areas of responsibility. They are also responsible for guaranteeing, under the terms established in international agreements, the relationships with the foreign forces stationed at the bases under their hierarchic authority. Presently, only the Azores Air Zone Command is active, having the Lajes Air Base under its command. The Madeira Air Zone Command is also foreseen in the Air Force organization, but it is not yet active, with the units located in the Madeira isles (Porto Santo Airfield and Pico do Arieiro Radar Station) staying under the direct command of the CA.
caption: Air Command facilities at the Air Force Monsanto complex
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