Awarding of badges to 16 attendees, representing a group of 67 pilots who recently completed their training at the Italian Air Force Flying Schools.

Today, at the “G. Farina” military airport in Decimomannu (CA), home of the International Flight Training School (IFTS), the “Badge Presentation” ceremony was held for the pilot trainees who have completed their training course at the Air Force Flying Schools.
The event was held in the presence of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto, and numerous civilian, military, and religious authorities, highlighting the importance and prestige of the occasion.
Professor Roberto Cingolani, CEO and General Manager of Leonardo, also spoke at the event.
During the ceremony, 16 students received their wings, a contingent selected from the most accomplished from all classes. The “Military Pilot's Wings” were awarded to students from the Air Forces of Austria, Germany, Greece, and Singapore. Furthermore, the “Military Helicopter Pilot's Wings” were presented to students from the Italian Army, the Carabinieri, and the Guardia di Finanza. The “Helicopter Pilot's Wings” were, however, awarded to students from the State Police and the National Fire Corps.
“Mr President of the Republic, your presence today, as on many other occasions, is for us a reason for honour and trust: it represents a concrete sign of the attention that you constantly dedicate to the Armed Forces, to their commitment and their daily sacrifice. It is a special day, today, especially for the young pilots who today receive the Eagle Turrita: a moment that will remain indelibly in their memory. Alongside the Italian student pilots here today are foreign colleagues who have completed their training at the Air Force flight schools. This is an acknowledgement of Italian excellence in flight training, the result of a modern and far-sighted vision that has made Italy an international model. The Turreted Eagle that we are handing over today is not just a symbol: it represents the assumption of a precise responsibility. That of embodying and defending the founding values of the collective defence of our country, Italy, in accordance with the law and the Constitution. To them, to you, Italy entrusts not only state-of-the-art aircraft, but a far-sighted vision, both projected into the future: an education of technological, cultural and human excellence, based on innovation and international cooperation. A concrete example is the school that hosts us today - the International Flight Training School (IFTS) - a campus recognised worldwide as a reference point for the quality and modernity of its training model. This is what Defence represents and must represent: fulfilling its primary mission - to defend free institutions, democracy and guarantee the security of its citizens. Defence also contributes to building the future, representing a formidable engine of development, a technological lever, a driver of innovation and qualified and sustainable employment. A sector capable of generating otherwise unattainable investments as well as concrete social, industrial, employment and technological spin-offs.
Today, we are entrusting you, young pilots, with complex technologies that few know how to master, but which will be fundamental to protecting all our futures. Yet, however sophisticated, no technology will ever be able to replace what we celebrate today: judgement, responsibility, conscience, ethical sense and moral drive. No machine will ever be able to feel, calculate and evaluate the weight of a choice, nor possess within itself the moral strength of a sworn oath. And it is also for this reason that your mission returns and becomes fundamental: we are entrusting you not only with exceptional, cutting-edge tools, but with the most delicate task of all: interpreting new scenarios, always having the strength to discern between Good and Evil, and always choosing good in the interest of the Country.” Thus the Minister of Defence, Guido Crosetto, during his speech.
In his address, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Luciano Portolano, highlighted the profound significance of the ceremony, which represents a moment of personal growth and the beginning of a new mission, where graduates can demonstrate they are leaders and “guardians of an art that combines and blends technique and strategy, instinct and rationality, action and reflection.” Congratulating the newly qualified personnel from the Air Forces of Austria, Germany, Greece, and Singapore, who attended the IFTS, Gen. Portolano stressed the importance of international cooperative effort in addressing modern security challenges: “In military operations, including air operations, friendly countries, Allies, and partners, operate side-by-side, demonstrating through deeds that defence knows no borders, [...] that peace and security are built together.”
In recognising the indispensable support role played by new technologies, first and foremost artificial intelligence – which has now fully entered the operational landscape for predicting threats and optimising military missions and operations – General Portolano wished to recall that it is the human being who remains, today and in the future, the determining factor, and that no machine, device or weapon system will be able to “replace your intuition and your initiative” or interpret complex and unforeseen situations, as “no algorithm will be able to make decisions with full awareness of their ethical and moral implications.”
Concluding his speech, General Portolano urged the newly qualified officers never to forget the responsibility that accompanies the “Eagles” they have just received, calling to mind the importance of becoming defenders of the values and security of democracy, and ambassadors of a cooperative, ethical, and strategic approach aimed at the defence and security of Nations and Peoples.
The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, in taking the floor at the start of the ceremony, after thanking the President of the Republic, the Minister of Defence, and all the authorities and guests present, wished to highlight the contribution of the main players who made the organisation of the event possible, particularly the Schools Command, the Logistics Command and the Air Force Command for the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (CAMRAS), which through the Experimental and Air Gunnery Standardisation Department (RSSTA) supported the preparations on the base.
“The young officers who become pilots today have faced a particularly demanding course at domestic and foreign flight schools,” said General Conserva, who then continued, “today they are crowning the dream of their professional lives.” With reference to the international geo-political framework, he emphasised that “Defence and the Air Force have the task of maintaining the highest level of operational readiness of their assets, also through the ability to train pilots who ensure the highest quality standards, in order to guarantee the defence of Italian and allied skies, and an adequate level of deterrence capable of safeguarding peace in any context.” The Air Force Chief of Staff went on to highlight the inter-force and international nature of the training model offered: "The inter-force, inter-agency and international dimension is concrete proof of how the Aeronautica Militare's more than one hundred years of experience and its distinctive skills in the aerospace sector are shared, in a spirit of effective and concrete cooperation between institutions and allies, in favour of those who make flying their profession and those who aspire to work in aerospace. Today's event is particularly significant because the International Flight Training School is a model of innovative and virtuous institutional and industrial synergy, which, also thanks to the hospitality of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, is able to create value by pooling the consolidated know-how of the Air Force and the excellence of national industry, with the assistance of Difesa Servizi, an in-house Defence company.”
The newly qualified pilots attended their respective pilot training courses at the Air Force Schools, recognised for their excellent training: the 61st Wing, based at Lecce Galatina airport, the 72nd Wing, located at Frosinone airport, and the Air Transport Training School (SATA) at Pratica di Mare. The pilots qualified in today's ceremony are part of a larger group of 67 trainees – belonging to the Air Force, foreign Air Forces, and other State Armed Forces and Bodies – who have completed the course to obtain their pilot's licence at the three flight schools mentioned (Galatina, Frosinone, and Pratica di Mare). These trainees will receive their licences at their respective Air Force schools.

The choice to hold this ceremony at the International Flight Training School in Decimomannu, an internationally recognised centre of excellence in advanced flight training, carries strong symbolic value. It is a reality that is the fruit of significant synergy at a national level between the Air Force and Leonardo, and, precisely because of its international school nature, it represents a message of strong cooperation between different countries and cultures.

Trainee military pilots selected for fighter squadrons, after completing phases II and III, continue their training with Phase IV, known as “Lead In to Fighter Training – LIFT”, which takes place at Decimomannu, at the International Flight Training School (IFTS).