Established on 1st June 1936 at Ciampino South airfield, the Wing has been operating out of the Piacenza airfield of San Damiano (Piacenza) since 1988. In his speech, delivered in the presence of the highest civil, military and religious authorities of the province of Piacenza, Colonel Degni emphasised how “these have been 75 discontinuous years, during which the Wing has been disbanded and reformed as many as 4 times, taking on different operational roles at different historical moments: ground attack in the Second World War, fighter-bomber during the Cold War period, up to its current role of suppression of enemy air defences. In this fragmentary history, which has only seen us enjoy a certain stability over the last twenty years, there are nonetheless 3 elements which have characterised the life of the Wing and are fully part of its more recent history, the 155th Group, the San Damiano airfield and the Tornado aircraft.” He then added how “the true element of continuity, however, remains man, and this ceremony aims above all to be a tribute to all those who have been and are part of the 50th Wing, thanks whose work, sacrifice and passion the Unit has reached its current level of excellence. We current members must be grateful and appreciative to those who preceded us, and it is our precise duty to continue their work with the same passion, striving to achieve the same results.” Particularly welcome was the presence of former Wing Commanders, General Carlo Maria Crainz and Colonel Antonio Rocchelli. The event concluded with a mess dinner attended by all Wing personnel.
The 50th Assault Wing was formed on 1 June 1936 at Ciampino Sud airfield. It comprised the 12th Group and the 16th Group. On 8 October 1938, it was transferred to Treviso and then, on 15 July 1939, to Berka (Benghazi) airfield, under the command of the Libyan Air Force Command. By the end of June 1940, the Wing was fully deployed on the Egyptian front. From July to September 1940, the two groups were reunited at T.2 bis airfield, and the CR.32 was added to their fleet. During this period, the Wing undertook patrols and surveillance missions, but above all distinguished itself in dive-bombing raids against armoured formations in cooperation with ground forces, making a valuable contribution to the offensive that led to the capture of Sidi-el-Barrani. On 1 December 1940, in recognition of the magnificent conduct displayed throughout the entire operational campaign, the Standard of the 50th Wing was awarded the Silver Medal for Military Valour with the following citation: ’After months upon months of war fought in the harsh solitude of Africa, where the struggle against the elements is no less gruelling than the battle against the enemy, and after having long distinguished themselves through superb, constant and heroic action against the adversary, always taking the offensive where the risk was greatest, its crews, during the Battle of the Desert, wrote a page of glory in the skies over the Marmarica. Attacking fortifications, troops and armoured vehicles in low-level flights, they inflicted – not without heavy and bloody sacrifices – very severe losses on the enemy, thereby making a valuable contribution to halting its advance.“ On 20 May 1941, the 50th Assault Wing was disbanded. A year later, on 20 May 1942, the 50th Wing was re-established at Aviano Air Base, comprising the 159th Group and the 158th Group. In February 1943, the Wing was transferred to Osoppo (Udine) and incorporated into the ”Aquila“ Fighter Command of the 2nd Air Group. On 12 September 1943, following the events of 8 September, the Wing was disbanded. On 1 April 1967, the 50th Wing was re-established at S. Damiano (Piacenza), with the 155th Fighter-Bomber Group (which had been stationed at the base since 1963) under its command, equipped with F.84F aircraft. The 155th Group of the 50th Wing operated from the S. Damiano base from 1967 to 1973, a period during which it made the transition from the F.84F to the F-104S fighter. On 1 October 1973, the 50th Wing was officially placed on ”standby’ status, and only the Airfield Command remained at the San Damiano base, whilst the 155th Group was transferred and became part of the 51st Wing at Istrana. On 1 November 1988, the 50th Wing was re-established at San Damiano Airport. On 23 July 1990, the 155th CBOC Group, equipped with Tornado multi-role aircraft and transferred from Ghedi (Brescia), was reassigned to the newly reconstituted wing. In April 1998, upon receiving its first Tornado ECR, the 155th Group changed its operational role to SEAD (suppression of enemy air defence). Since its re-establishment, it has taken part in the following operations: Locusta in 1991; SharpGuard from 1993 to 1995;Joint Guardian, Joint Forge and Decisive Endeavour from 1996 to 1999; Allied Forge in 1999; Odyssey Dawn and Unified Protector in 2011.
