The Armed Forces Command Support Organisation (AFCSO) is responsible for all telecommunications of the deployed forces on the ground and in the air. Apart from radio, air picture and air traffic control (radar), these will be round-the-clock transmission of visual, digital and voice data, seven days a week. This data will include the transmission of pictures from the surveillance drones in support of the Border Guard and the host cities, but also the transmission of FLIR 
scans from the Super Puma helicopters (FLIR = Forward Looking Infrared).
With its radio access points (RAP), the AFCSO will establish and run a mobile communication network which is not dependent on civilian providers and guarantees contact between the various command support means of communication (telephone, radio) in the area of Geneva-Basel-Zurich-central Switzerland.
Electronic communications intelligence
Within the context of the EURO 08, armed forces command will also rely on electronic warfare and signal intelligence (EWF and SIGINT) units. The main task of the EWF and SIGINT troops will consist in monitoring the electromagnetic spectrum, in order to ensure the performance of the radio-based military command and control.
The EWF and SIGINT units will be deployed on the basis of the Ordinance on EWF and SIGINT operations of the armed forces (VEKF) and will be directed and coordinated by the EWF and SIGINT authority of the armed forces. Type and duration of these services will be in accordance with local military requirements.
The FIS command & control and information system
The command & control and information system of the Land Forces (FIS LF) will be used extensively for the first time. The AFCSO will also provide its installation and round-the-clock operation, with all associated networks and workstations, where the data transferred can be evaluated and portrayed.
Planning and coordination of radio frequencies
Coordinating military and civilian communications networks constitutes a great challenge. The AFCSO plans and coordinates the allocation of frequencies to the various organisations involved in agreement with the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM). The aim is to distribute the required number of frequencies among the various organisations (authorities, police, military, rescue organisations, organisers, etc.) in such a way that, they are able to communicate both with each-other and within closed networks.
IT infrastructure
As IT provider of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) the AFCSO installs and runs the entire IT infrastructure at the EURO 08. In addition approximately 400 PCs and several hundred telephones will be installed at various locations throughout Switzerland and continually operated on the basis of a network.
A major expenditure of time and material
In order to be able to provide these services in the first place, the AFCSO requires some 100 tons of equipment which is transported on almost 200 Euro pallets and has a value of about 50 million Swiss francs. After 5 May 2008, the assembly of individual command posts and airport installations will begin. This work will be done by some 250 employees of the AFCSO.
On 29 May 2008 all the mobile systems will be assembled by militia conscripts who will be constantly on duty from this date on until the end of the EURO 08.
About the AFCSO
The Armed Forces Command Support Organisation AFCSO is the product of a merger of the IT Directorate (DIK VBS) and the Command Support Directorate (UG FU). The IT Directorate was the service provider for all IT services in the DDPS, while the Command Support Directorate contained the offices for telematics, electronic warfare and signal intelligence, management support, cryptology as well as Command Support Brigade 41.
The huge developments in technology in the field of communications and command support have made merely assembling and running radio networks for voice transmission no longer satisfactory. Together with its assigned Command Support Brigade 41 the AFCSO is usually able to unobtrusively offer its partners and customers a vast range of services, without which the conduct of major events such as the EURO 08 would hardly be feasible.