In Grazzanise, the “Personnel Recovery Training Week” event was concluded, organized by the 1st Air Brigade Special Operations. The 1st Air Brigade Special Operations of Rome organized the event involving the employees of the following units: the 9th Air Wing, the 16th Air Wing “Protezione delle Forze” of Martina Franca (TA), the 17th Air Wing “Incursori” of Furbara (Rome) and the A.M. Canine Center of Grosseto. The activity was supervised on site by the Commander of the Air Wing, General of Area Staff Tiziano Tosi, by the Commander of the 1st Air Brigade, General of Air Brigade Germano Quattrociocchi and by the Commander of the 9th Air Wing, Colonel Marino Francavilla. “Scaglia 2012” is part of a training program for the Air Force’s Special Operations units that, from 2009 to today, has developed a series of “Incocca” and “Tende”) exercises that preceded the “Scaglia” itself. These activities take their name from the historical motto of the 1st Brigade: “Fire, fire and fire”. The Special Operations sector, relatively new to the Air Force and oriented towards ground operations, is extremely important in the context of international missions in which the Armed Forces are called upon to operate.
During the various training events, carried out during the day and also at night, the Air Force military officers improved their operational mission planning capabilities by deepening the procedures to be adopted in the event of “Special Reconnaissance”, air launching, Combat Control (Operation Management), tactical transport on the AB-212 and C-130J aircraft, landings and takeoffs from the new semi-prepared Grazzanise runway, Air Landed Aircraft Refuelling Point (ALARP – Ground refuelling station for aircraft) and recognition/deactivation of explosives (EOR/EOD). Numerous members of Forza Armata participated in the exercise, including the HH-3F helicopters of the 15th CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue) Squadron of Cervia, the AMX fighter jets and the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) of the 32nd Squadron of Amendola, the C-130J and C27J aircraft of the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, the ALARP ground equipment of the Logistics Command and the navigators of the 4th Squadron of Grosseto. General Tosi highlighted that the exercise provided an important opportunity to see the various operational components in action, who in fact exercise their professionalism in a purely specialized and highly technical context such as that involving aeronautics. General Quattrociocchi, for his part, emphasized the importance of conducting complex operations in international crisis contexts, without ever losing sight of the need to operate in a synergistic manner. Colonel Marino Francavilla, finally, stated that he was proud to have hosted an event of such complexity in his Department, capable of enhancing the organizational, managerial, and professional capabilities of the entire Stormo.
