The new USAFE Theater Aerospace Operations Support Center, activated here Oct. 1, focuses on the day-to-day aerospace mission and revolutionizes the way the Air Force operates in Europe.

UTASC merges the missions and resources of several units in USAFE. It combines the USAFE Air Operations Squadron, the USAFE Air Mobility Operations Control Center, 1st Combat Communications and the 32nd Air Operations Group, including the 32nd Air Operations Squadron, the 32nd Air Intelligence Squadron, and the 32nd Information Warfare Flight.

Col. Keith Monteith took charge of UTASC immediately after relinquishing command of the 32nd AOG. Col. P. Mason Carpenter commands the Ramstein-based 32nd AOG.

The concept for an organization like UTASC is rooted in recommendations published in the “Air War over Serbia” report.

“Two and one-half years ago this command, along with the majority of our Air Force, was engaged in a war in the Balkans," said Gen. Gregory Martin, USAFE commander. "We quickly discovered that the transition from peacetime … to a wartime footing, which postured us for victory in Operation Allied Force, was not a simple process." Martin, who presided over the ceremony, said that while the Air Force was “engaged in the conflict,” former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael E. Ryan directed the study -- resulting in the publication of the AWOS report.

The internal Air Force report details hundreds of recommendations aimed at improving air capabilities in the future.

“It was clear that one of the most powerful things we could do was to review and restructure our war-fighting organizations above the wing level,” Martin said.