Tactical coordinator

TACCO is the military abbreviation for "TACtical COordinator" (pronounced 'TACK-oh') and is the aircrew member responsible for coordinating the activities of the part of the crew responsible for the tactical operation of the aircraft and its systems. The TACCO may, depending on the country, be the Mission Commander of the crew.

Typically, TACCOs run the missions in P-3 Orion patrol aircraft and S-3 Viking aircraft. They are specially trained for antisubmarine warfare tactics, but also participate in other missions in which these aircraft are involved.

Due to their equipment and the very high standards required, The Canadian Forces aggressively overtrains their TACCOs, earning a reputation of producing the highest trained and most proficient TACCOs in the western militaries. Due to their extremely high operational tempo ratio'd per TACCO; the Canadian TACCOs have a stellar reputation. their numbers are, however, very low and military analysts point out that this is "akin to having all one's eggs in a single basket." Some individual Canadian TACCOs have, however, earned almost mythical reputations regarding their abilities to find submarines.