Major General Hayrettin Koca

Major General Hayrettin KOCA is the Vice Chief of Staff (VCOS) at Allied Command Transformation.

Maj. Gen. KOCA was born in 1973. In 1995, he graduated from the Turkish Air Force Academy with distinction as an air force officer with a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Industrial Engineering.

After completing Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT) in Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas/USA, he served at various levels in air force bases as a F-16 fighter pilot including the role of the Head of Inspection and Evaluation Division.

After retiring September 2012, Maj. Gen. KOCA worked in defence industry as a certification and qualification expert for Undersecretaries of Defence Industries (SSM) of Türkiye on various projects on different panels including flight performance, safety, weapon systems, avionics, software, flight-testing, fuel, power plant, human factors and etc. The significant projects he devoted his career between the years of 2013-2017 are as follows: F-16 modernization, C-130 Modernization, ATAK Helicopter, Hürkuş Indiginious Turboprop Trainer, A-400M, Gökbey Helicopter, ANKA UAV, F-35 and etc.

He rejoined Turkish Air Force in 2017 and assumed duty in the Headquarters of the Turkish Air Force as the operations section chief of the F-35 project. Then he served as the Head of the F-35 Project Management Branch and Strategy and Planning Coordination Division Head.

He was promoted to Brigadier General in August 2020 and directed the Turkish Air Force Defence Planning and Project Management Directorate for 3 years.

He continued to fly with F-16 including the operational test flights of different systems.

In August 2023, he was promoted to Major General and assigned as the Assistant Chief of Staff, Capabilities between September 2023 and April 2025. He assumed command of DCOS R&M in April 2025, and became Vice Chief of Staff in January 2026.

Maj. Gen. KOCA holds MBA degree in Management and Organization.

He is married to Mrs. Berfin KOCA and father of one son. He is fluent in English.