At the Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake, approximately two hundred and twenty military personnel engaged in the Blazing Shield campaign commemorated the 95th Anniversary of the Air Force. On Wednesday, 28th March, Air Force personnel assigned to the Autonomous Flight Department deployed at the Naval Air Weapons Station Base in China Lake, California, celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Armed Force. The commemorative day saw a solemn flag-raising ceremony attended by all personnel of the RAV. At the end of the ceremony, the Commander of the RAV, Colonel Marco Bertoli, read out the good wishes message from the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Force General Enzo Vecciarelli. While greeting and thanking his personnel for the excellent work carried out so far and for their constant commitment in carrying out their daily assigned duties, Colonel Bertoli wished to emphasise the concepts expressed by the Chief of Staff: an Armed Force that looks ahead to innovate ever more, but that also knows how to look back to honour its glorious past and remember the memory of those who fell in service in the performance of their duty. With the Blazing Shield campaign, the Air Force aims to conduct Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) on the combination of the new AARGM (Advanced Anti Radiation Guided Missile) and the Tornado ECR aircraft, also including two live fire events. In addition to this important objective, the occasion will be used to validate and improve the self-protection capabilities of the Eurofighter, Tornado and C-27J platforms, in order to broaden their operational capabilities in all theatres where they will be called upon to operate.
