Colonel Carlos Herráiz Linares

Commander European Tactical Airlift Centre

Colonel Carlos Herráiz is a transport pilot in the Spanish Air and Space Force and currently serves as Commander of the European Tactical Airlift Centre (ETAC) in Zaragoza, Spain. With nearly four decades of military service, he has held assignments across transport aviation units, the Air Force Academy, Air Force Headquarters, and the Spanish Joint Operations Command, where he served as J4 Chief for Operational Logistics. An experienced operational aviator, Colonel Herráiz participated in the Balkans conflict and was part of the crew of a transport aircraft struck by two surface-to-air missiles during a mission near the Croatia-Serbia border in 1994, an incident from which the crew survived. He has also supported operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Mali, and across Africa. In senior staff roles, he has overseen logistics planning and support for major deployments, including non-combatant evacuation operations, NATO exercises, air policing missions, and multinational force deployments. As Commander of ETAC, he leads Europe's premier multinational tactical airlift training organisation, supporting interoperability and advanced air mobility training among participating European air forces. His service has been recognised with numerous national and international military decorations, including NATO, French, and U.S. awards.