The handover to Colonel Masi took place in the presence of Air Force General Pasquale Preziosa. The solemn ceremony, attended by Air Force General Pasquale Preziosa, Commander of the Air Force Schools / 3rd Air Region of Bari, was attended by numerous religious, civil, and military authorities, the banners of local administrations, and the standards of Veterans“ and Services Associations, along with many guests. Colonel Masi expressed great satisfaction with the work accomplished and, offering heartfelt thanks to the Wing's personnel who supported him in achieving the set objectives during his two-year command, he emphasised:“We have worked throughout these months with the utmost dedication, passion, and perseverance, setting ourselves two fundamental objectives. First: to maintain the high levels of excellence already achieved by the Wing, fulfilling with professionalism the primary task to which we are institutionally called as a helicopter flight school, namely the training of pilots through intense and demanding training activities. Second: to ideally try to open the gates of the airport to the city of Frosinone and the province, to ordinary people, by promoting initiatives that have been met with great success.”With pride, after 15 years, Colonel Volpari returns to the 72nd Wing, stating he is ready to face the new assignment with full awareness of the delicacy of the task entrusted to him and adding:“The evolution of international scenarios suggests expanding our educational excellence, and it is in this direction that the 72nd Wing is resolutely embarking on its journey. The School is indeed already potentially capable of providing instruction in foreign languages, and it is in this sector that we will see the greatest development. This will require an even greater effort, but I am certain that this objective too will be achieved, especially with the commitment that all personnel will be able to dedicate, continuing on the path laid out over more than 50 years, in order to strengthen the prestige and credibility that have always characterised the Wing and bring further lustre to this land.”General Preziosa, expressing his satisfaction with the work done by Colonel Masi, addressed the personnel of the 72nd Wing, stating: “Be proud of the results achieved, as they have contributed to pursuing ever-greater efficiency in our work. At the same time, I remind you that this process cannot have an end; further objectives have been assigned to us to innovate the current training processes, with the aim of maintaining the relevance of our training capacity in this specific sector.” he continued, addressing Colonel Volpari, saying “[...] new objectives will be assigned aimed at establishing new training levels on rotary-wing aircraft for the Air Force, the Armed Forces, and the Armed Corps of the State; [...] the establishment of new certifications, for the Air Force, for the Italian Army, and for the Financial Police, represents the field of work on which the Wing will be called to operate in the near future, and will represent new avenues, in addition to the expansion of the collaboration already underway with national industry.”New challenges and new objectives, then, for the 72nd Wing, which will continue to grow in its careful work of training pilots, a mission that has led it to complete well over 433,000 flight hours and to qualify 4,507 pilots since 1960.
Colonel Elio Volpari was born in Alatri (FR) on 10 April 1964 and lived in Rome until he completed his secondary education.
He attended the Air Force Academy from September 1983 with the “Centauro IV” course and obtained his Military Pilot wings at the 61st B.A. of Galatina in 1988.
In 1989, he qualified as a helicopter flight instructor at the 72nd Wing in Frosinone where, in 1992, he obtained the qualification of flight examiner and also held the position of Commander of the 429th Squadron of the 208th Flying Group.
Since 1996, he has served at the Flying Schools Standardisation Section of the General Command of Schools in Guidonia, where he also held the position of Head of the Flying Schools Section within the Operations and Training Office.
A qualified jet flight instructor, in 1999 he was assigned to the 61st Wing in Lecce, where from 2000 he held the position of Commander of the 213th Flight Group.
Since 2002, he has been assigned to the Employment Directorate for Military Personnel with the role of Head of the Navigators' Employment Section, and from 2003 to 2006, he served at the Flight Safety Inspectorate as Head of the Jet Aircraft Section and Head of the Rotary Wing Section in the Investigations Office.
From 2006 to 2009, he served as Deputy Attaché for Air Armaments at the Italian Representation to the NATO Atlantic Council in Brussels.
In 2009 he was assigned to the Schools Command in Bari, where he remained until 30 September 2011.
Colonel Volpari attended the normal course at the Air War College in Florence and the ISSMI course at Palazzo Salviati in Rome.
He holds a degree in Aeronautical Sciences and Political Science from the University of Trieste and obtained a Master's degree in Strategic-Military International Studies.
Furthermore, he attended the “instrument flight course” for instructors at Fort Rucker (AL), the “aircraft and helicopter accidents investigation course” at California Southern University, and the “problem-solving course” at ISFA in Paris.
He has a total of 3,700 flight hours to his credit, of which 1,100 were on jet aircraft and 2,700 on helicopters and propeller aircraft. He is rated on 12 different types of aircraft.
He is awarded the Golden Aeronautic Medal for Long Air Navigation and the Golden Cross for Military Service Longevity; in 2009 he was appointed “Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic”.
Colonel Volpari is married and has two children.
