Colonel Alfredo Pietrolucci succeeds Colonel Luca Mazzini
On Wednesday, September 4, at the “Mario de Bernardi” military airport in Pratica di Mare (RM), the handover ceremony for the command of the 14th Squadron took place between Colonel Luca Mazzini, outgoing commander, and Colonel Alfredo Pietrolucci, incoming commander.
The ceremony was attended by the Commander of the General Mobility and Support Forces of Air Division Enrico Degni, and numerous civil and military authorities, including the Mayor of Pomezia, Dott.ssa Veronica Felici, the flag of the municipality of Pomezia, and the combatant and military associations.
In his farewell speech, Colonel Luca Mazzini, after two years at the helm of the Pontine Sector, reviewed the activities of the Command, describing them as extremely exciting and full of challenges. He then expressed deep gratitude to his staff: “We all gave 200%, supporting four operations outside national borders (OFCN) by providing 100% personnel to four Task Groups: the Breus, with the KC-767 operating since 2014 in Kuwait; the Argo, repeatedly with the CAEW; the Perseo, with the Spydr; and the Task Group Thor, for the first time as an autonomous flight group in OFCN outside a TFA (Task Force Air), in Iceland. Then all the Defense missions in Africa, on the East Side, and in dozens of other destinations; the exercises like Cobra Warrior, Joint Star, EART, NAT24, and finally the four mega campaigns: Rising Sun 2023 and 2024; the Red Flag in Alaska; the Pitch Black in Australia, perhaps the largest ever carried out by our Armed Forces. There were also three personnel evacuations abroad (Sudan, Niger, and Israel), and the celebrations of the Centenary of the Air Force with the most important event, the Aerial Demonstration in Pratica di Mare, which took place right in the airfields and hangars of the 14th Squadron. All this, without ever stopping with the P-180 line, ready H24 for the Civil Protection Department, has ensured the control of radio measurements at all Italian military airports.. Furthermore, we have never stopped training with all our fleets and alongside the aerotactic units in AAR (Air to Air Refuelling) missions with the KC-767 and Command & Control with the CAEW. It was a collective effort, and if the aircraft are the tip of the iceberg, there was always the Operations Office and the GEA to support it, and a Command Office, a SLPP Service (Local Prevention and Protection Service) and an Administrative Logistics Section to make this possible. Truly kudos to everyone for the immense amount of work we have done together.”.
Colonel Alfredo Pietrolucci, the successor, received with honor and gratitude the testimony given to him, thanking the Supreme Commands of the Armed Forces for the trust placed in him:“Today I believe it is necessary to turn our attention to the entire staff of the 14th Squadron, which constitutes the true and fundamental excellence; to you women and men of the 14th Squadron, and, on this special day, to Col. Luca Mazzini, a man, commander and friend whom I have known and respected for almost 30 years; whose skills I have had the opportunity to appreciate and recognize on more than one occasion. Luca, I am truly proud to receive the baton of the 14th Squadron from you; I could not be more honored; I sincerely hope and expect to be able to live up to your legacy and the excellent work of these two years, which, together with the constant dedication of all the staff, have confirmed the 14th Squadron as an excellence of our Armed Forces and the Defense. In this regard, I would like to reiterate the absolute continuity of our intentions with yours Vision, In harmony with the directives of the Armed Forces and Defense Summit; a continuity that is expressed in the three key concepts of operationality, flight safety, and workplace safety, concepts inextricably linked to each other, and from whose close synergy the pursuit of the Stormo’s mission depends.
General Degni, in highlighting the numerous and important achievements achieved by the 14th Squadron, thanked Colonel Mazzini for the commitment he had shown during his tenure:“I compliment myself And I thank you for the excellent work done in these two years. Leave behind an efficient and prepared Stormo, which ensures support and enabling functions, fundamental for the full success of missions in complex and increasingly remote operational scenarios, as evidenced by the recent experience in the Indo-Pacific”.
The incoming Commander wished a serene and fruitful work. Finally, he addressed the staff of the Squadron: “The success of a Command is measured not only by the personal abilities of the Commander, but above all by how the Department as a whole has operated. The results achieved are all the result of your efforts, and you should be proud and proud of them. I thank you for all that you have done and ask you to continue with the same commitment to carry out your mission, joining together as a united team around your new Commander”.
It 14th Wing It is based at the “Mario de Bernardi” military airport in Pratica di Mare and is subordinate to the Command of the Mobility and Support Forces of Rome. The Stormo conducts surveillance missions over the airspace with Gulfstream G-550 CAEW aircraft; radio measurements and tactical transport, also for the Civil Protection Department, with P-180 Avanti I and II aircraft; and in-flight refueling, strategic transport and transport in a bio-containment environment with KC-767A aircraft.
