Colonel Emanuele Spigolon succeeded Colonel Bruno Levati on Friday, July 6, at the Ramirez Military Airport in Gioia del Colle (BA). The ceremony of command change of the 36th Fighter Wing took place between Colonel Bruno Levati, outgoing commander, and Colonel Emanuele Spigolon, incoming commander. The ceremony of handing over the command was presided over by the Commander of the Combat Forces of Milan and the First Air Region, General of the Air Division Silvano Frigerio, as well as the highest military, civil and religious authorities of the territory. The ceremony was symbolically marked by the handing over of the War Flag of the Wing by Colonel Levati to Colonel Spigolon and the pronouncement of the ritual formula. In his speech, Col. Levati addressed the War Flag of the Stormo, remembering all those who, for the same reason, sacrificed their lives and, in particular, Lieutenant Antonio Carbone, who recently passed away. The occasion was propitious for greeting, thanking, and offering good wishes to all the men and women of the 36th Stormo, each of whom was a small piece of a great mosaic that made one of the most decorated and operational Departments of the Italian Air Force efficient and effective. Col. Spigolon, in thanking the higher authorities for the trust placed in him to assign him the prestigious assignment, emphasized the role of each member of the Stormo, as the guardian of the values represented by the War Flag. Furthermore, the incoming commander emphasized the great professional and personal sacrifice that reverberates on the lives of each of us, the true driving force and support for each of us. The ceremony concluded with the intervention of Air Division General Silvano Frigerio who emphasized the strategic role of the 36th Air Wing which, since the time of peace, ensures the airspace surveillance service for the benefit of central-southern Italy, Albania and Montenegro, as well as providing support in missions abroad. Air policing in the Baltic countries and northern Europe within the framework of the NATO integrated air defense system.
Colonel Emanuele Spigolon was born in Cuneo on October 29, 1970. He joined the Air Force with the NIBBIO IV course on August 26, 1991. After obtaining a degree in ’Aeronautical Science“ at the University Federico II of Naples, he obtained his military pilot’s license at the International School of Sheppard AFB, Texas (USA). After completing the operational conversion course on the F-104 aircraft, in 1997 he was assigned to the X Fighter Group at the 9th Wing at Grazzanise. During this period, he carried out numerous war missions for NATO operations in the Balkan regions. In August 2000, selected as the first exchange pilot with the French Air Force, he was assigned to Escadron de Chasse 1/5 Vendèè Orange in France, where he flew the Mirage 2000 for three years. Upon his return in 2003, he was assigned to the IX Fighter Group of the 4th Squadron in Grosseto, the first operational group transitioning to the F-2000 aircraft. In 2009, after obtaining the qualification as a pilot instructor, again on the F-2000 aircraft, he took command of the 20th Operational Training Group. In 2011, upon completion of the Inter-Service Superior Staff Course (ISSMI), he was assigned to the 6th Department of Legal and Financial Affairs of the Air Force General Staff. In 2013, as the Commander of Corps, he assumed the position of Chief General Staff of the Herat base in Afghanistan, in favor of the ISAF operation. Upon his return, Col. Spigolon was assigned to the 4th Logistics Department of the Air Force General Staff, where he was responsible for managing the F-35 program for the Air Force. In 2015, selected as an inter-service representative, he attended the IASD – Institute of Advanced Defense Studies – course at the Chem – Centre des Hautes études Militares in Paris. In March 2017, he was identified as the Commander of the Northern Ice Task Force for a mission outside national borders to contribute to Iceland’s Air Defense. Col. Spigolon has over 2,400 hours of flight experience on T-37, T-38, MB339, F-104, Mirage 2000 and Eurofighter F-2000 aircraft.
