Pilots and specialists from the 46th BA of Pisa, with a C130J aircraft, participated in the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center (AATTC) course in the United States from September 17 to 28. From September 17 to 28, a crew from the 46th BA of Pisa, with a C130J aircraft, participated in the Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center (AATTC) course in the United States together with crews from other nations. The course was divided into two phases: during the first phase, held in St. Joseph (Missouri), the crews followed ground-based lessons on low-altitude flight, reaction to “Air to Air” and “Surface to Air” threats, and the planning of complex missions in hostile environments. During this first phase, low-altitude flights were conducted in which a hostile environment was simulated, including the launching of materials, reaction to counter-attack threats, and joint training with A-10 aircraft. The second phase, conducted in Sierra Vista, Arizona, involved performing increasingly difficult flights with various types of aircraft, low altitudes, high-low profiles with penetration descent for launch, attack by enemy aircraft (F-16), and finally maximum effort landings and takeoffs on semi-prepared runways; coordination with a command and control aircraft (type AWACS) was essential. In fact, continuous training in complex scenarios such as those simulated during the AATTC is the key to success in the environments where the Air Force operates, to improve effectiveness, increase safety in the conduct of operations, and maximize the return on the resources made available. The return to training of contexts such as the AATTC allows women and men participating in them to increase their professional experience in order to be prepared to operate wherever the national Defense system requires, often in a multinational environment, in cooperation with other European countries, NATO members or those part of coalitions under the auspices of the UN.
The 46th Air Brigade is a Department that is subordinate to the Air Force Command through the Special Support Forces Command, which carries out a wide range of missions in the field of air transport, both of a purely military nature – with participation in all Operational Theatres where the Italian Armed Forces are present – and in cooperation with civil agencies of the State (the so-called Dual Use), as in the case of humanitarian aid, evacuations of populations in difficulty and interventions in the event of natural disasters.
