The Air Force General Staff, abbreviated SMA, is one of the top bodies of the Air Force, headed by the Deputy Chief of Staff, with the rank of Air Force General/Air Division, and is placed under the direct command of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
The primary mission of the Air Staff is to support the Chief of Staff of the Air Force in the planning, organisation, coordination and control of the various sectors of activity of the Air Force. The Air Staff provides the Chief of Staff with the elements for decisions within his purview, prepares regulations, directives, plans, programmes and orders, and oversees the implementation of what has been laid down.
The 1st Department “Organisation and Personnel” is responsible for dealing with issues relating to the organisation of the Air Force, recruitment, legal status, advancement and economic treatment of the Armed Force's personnel, employment policy, the training of military and civilian personnel, legal, juridical and administrative matters, and relations with military and trade union representatives.
The 3rd Department “Aerospace Instrument Planning” is responsible for formulating guidelines for the preparation and deployment of the aerospace instrument, contributing to the definition of national security and defence policy, and overseeing aspects related to the Armed Force's technical-military cooperation internationally.
The 5th Department promotes the values, role, and image of the Italian Air Force in line with societal developments, developing communication policies and strategies calibrated to the military dimension.
The Department's mission is to support the Chief of Staff in exercising the powers of the Armed Forces' Central Security Authority, by collecting, analysing, and evaluating information pertaining to security and the safeguarding of secrets.
The General Security Department (RGS) is also the body responsible for collecting, verifying, and monitoring reports concerning sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects.
Go to the page of the’UFO
The General Office for Space is structured as the organisational element that manages activities and needs in the space sector of interest to the Air Force, coordinating with both internal and external bodies within the Armed Force.
The General Office for Military Aviation and Meteorology (SMA AVIAM) supports the Chief of Staff of the Air Force in the functions of regulation, certification, and oversight of military air traffic, and represents the Armed Force, or Defence by delegation, at national and international bodies for military air traffic matters, with the objective of ensuring the safety of military aircraft operations and maintaining “due regard” (as provided for by the Chicago Convention) for the safety of flight operations of other aircraft (especially civilian ones).
