The Tactical Leadership Programme was founded in the late 19seventies. Its purpose was to join allied forces and train together in joint operations, but also to generate leaders for challenging multinational air defence and air strike missions. The TLP is a standalone organization based on a Memorandum of Understanding between the air forces of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. During the years other nations have been invited as guests to participate.

The first TLP ever was held at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany, in January 1978, but this first edition was strictly academic. The TLP moved to Jever AB, Germany, in September 1979 and the academic course was extended with a flying phase. When the TLP left Jever in 1988, 71 courses were held there and over 1900 aircrews were trained. Florennes AB in Belgium was appointed as the new homebase for the TLP and hosted its first TLP in March 1989. The TLP stayed at Florennes until July 2009, when the exercise moved to Albacete, Spain, where weather conditions are far better, and the aircrews have a large airspace structure to their usage. 

TLP 2009-2
The first participants of TLP 2009-2 arrived on Friday 6 March and the last participants departed on Friday 3 April. The second last TLP at Florennes was a rather small one. Only six participating countries and all with minor delegations. The RAF and the USAF didn’t participate at all. The French Air Force came with two Mirage F.1s from Reims AB. The Germans were at Florennes with four Tornados from Lechfeld. A nice contributor was the Hellenic Air Force with four Mirage 2000-5s from Tanagra AB. The Italian Air Force came again with two types, two AMXs from Istrana AB and three EF-2000s from Grosetto AB. The Polish Air Force send three F-16Cs from Krzesiny AB. And finally, the Spanish Air Force participated with six EF-18As from Torrejon and Zaragoza AB.

The Participants
French Air Force with Mirage F.1CR from EC 01.033
German Air Force with Tornado IDS from JBG-32
Hellenic Air Force with Mirage 2000-5 from 332 Mira
Italian Air Force with AMX from 51 Stormo and EF-2000 from 4 Stormo
Polish Air Force with F-16C from 31 Blt.
Spanish Air Force with EF-18A+ from Ala 12 and Ala 15