As part of restructuring, the units of the aviation and air base organisations were divided between operations and training, and the squadrons were placed under the control of the air base commands for all operational purposes. The pilot school remaines within instruction and training brigade of the Air Force and continues to provide basic training for prospective military pilots. In order to maintain smooth air force operations, the officers from the various technical services and the Surveillance Wing’s staff sections were assigned to the Air Force Staff.

The Professional Aviator Corps was created to take account of the special status of professional aviators (pilots and operators), espacially in training matters. The chief of the corps, which is not a military unit, is responsible for supporting the professional aviators in career and training matters. It is his task to ensure that crews can carry out their duties in the cockpit and behind their desks under the best possible conditions. Basic and advanced training, career guidance, career models, regulations, personnel coordination, supervision of flight performances – these are his key tasks. In their daily routine, professional aviators are led by their senior officers in accordance with the organisational chart.

Bringing all the professional aviators spread throughout the air force together in the new Professional Aviator Corps should also make it possible to preserve the aircrews special culture and esprit de corps. Even though the air force is now differently organised, the professional aviators' tasks have remained largely unchanged and some of the Surveillance Wing's guiding principles from December 1996 definitely still apply:

• As professional military unit ready for immediate deployment, we fly to win; we make calculated use of our skills and resources.
• We attach great importance to teamwork and pursue a common cause rather than prestige.
• Our work environment is characterised by responsible behaviour, openness, and objective directness in dealing with each other.
• We deal flexibly and purposefully with unexpected and surprising events. Our actions are characterised by a high level of performance.

Our guiding principles are not about organisational forms, official channels, structures or processes. They focus on values like team spirit, responsible behaviour, openness, objective directness in dealing with each other, and dedication to achieving our goals. Our professional aviators remain committed to these values despite the fact that the Surveillance Wing has been disbanded. An important sign of our commitment is our emblem, the same scheme as the old Surveillance Wing emblem, only the name has changed.