Handover of duties between Colonel Marino Francavilla and Colonel Maurizio Cocci. Colonel Cocci, in turn, thanked the top leadership of the Armed Forces for the trust placed in him to take charge of a prestigious unit such as the 9th Air Wing. Addressing the personnel of his new unit, he emphasized that he will devote maximum attention to them: ”Only with your motivation and your determination – he emphasized – The 9th Air Wing can continue to improve and progress, enriching its glorious history. ”.
General Tosi, in thanking Colonel Francavilla for the results achieved, emphasized the importance for the Armed Forces of the 9th Air Wing that, with the presence of the Air Riflemen, the 21st Flight Wing and not least with the new Host Nation Support function of NATO, today even more than yesterday, assumes a role of fundamental importance within the Defense Departments:” I am here to express my utmost appreciation for the work done. In recent years – he continued – You have been able to transform the reality of your department by continuously evolving and experimenting with things that had never been experimented with in Aeronautics before: this is a great honor for you.”.
The 9th Squadron with its flight assets (AB212 helicopters) and ground assets (Air Rangers) carries out search and rescue (SAR) operations for personnel both in Italy and within the framework of international missions, providing aerial support to surface forces and intervening, in the presence of injured persons, with emergency medical evacuation operations: 14 wounded have been recovered over the past two years. Furthermore, the construction of the new semi-prepared runway, recently inaugurated, will allow the Air Force to ensure that crews, about to operate outside the national borders, receive effective training in a context that reproduces the environment and operational requirements typical of activities outside national borders, at very low costs and under maximum safety conditions. The deployment of the 2nd NATO Signal Battalion South at Grazzanise Airport, finally, with functions as a Mobile Operational Center for NATO telecommunications, is part of a broader plan to restructure NATO’s operational readiness, which will see the relocation of both the NATO components in Verona and Bagnoli to the new base at Grazzanise, whose mission will be to provide Support to Operations in the Operational Theatres to NATO personnel.
