A two-day event commemorating the dramatic events of twenty years ago. The Air Force intervened under adverse weather conditions. The event took place in the city of Sarno (SA) on May 5 and 6, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the dramatic events of May 5, 1998. The commemorative event was organized by the municipality of the Salerno town, in collaboration with the local section of the Association of the Air Force (AAA), and was attended by the President of the Campania Region, On. Vincenzo De Luca.
During the event, the Sarnese municipal administration reiterated its appreciation and thanks to all the institutions of the State that provided their important assistance to the civilian population during the flood of twenty years ago. The flood caused a landslide movement of vast proportions that affected the urban areas of the municipalities of Sarno (SA), Quindici (AV), Siano (SA), Bracigliano (SA) and San Felice a Cancello (CE), causing the death of 160 people, 137 of whom in the city of Sarno alone, the most affected among the places affected in terms of loss of human lives and incalculable damage.
Regarding the dramatic event, the Air Force intervened immediately on the night of May 5, 1998 with helicopters.
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9th Wing, Grazzanise (CE)who were operating the Air Rescue Alarm Service (S.A.R.). On that painful night and in the following hours, the crews of the “Cavallino Rampante”, despite the difficult and prohibitive weather conditions characterized by rain, poor visibility, and thunderstorm clouds, which were also aggravated by the impossibility of identifying the area of operations due to darkness and the interruption of the electricity supply, managed to rescue 240 human lives from the dangerous buildings using the winch. For the heroism shown, the President of the Republic decorated 14 officers and non-commissioned officers of the Air Wing with Silver Medals for Aeronautic Valor, precisely for the high sense of duty demonstrated and the extreme courage. Many of them were present in Sarno during the events and received the gratitude of the local authorities.
The Air Force took part in the event with a delegation composed of General Inspector Gennaro Cuciniello, Chief of the Commissioning and Administration Service of the A.M. Logistics Command, representing the Chief of Staff of the A.M., the Commander of the 9th Squadron, Colonel pilot Pasquale Di Palma, and a representative of military personnel who took part in the rescue operations, as well as from other agencies in the Campania area. On this occasion, a static display of a HH-212 helicopter with its crew from the 21st Flight Squadron and a “mockup” of the F-104 999 aircraft were exhibited in the main square of the city.
On the evening of May 5, a concert of the AM Fanfara of the 3rd Air Region was also held at the Duomo di Episcopio, a hamlet of Sarno. The 9th Air Wing is subordinate to the Air Force Command and ensures, with its HH-212 flight assets, support operations for Special Operations as well as search and rescue of personnel both in Italy and within the framework of international missions, providing air support to surface forces and intervening, in the presence of injured persons, with emergency medical evacuation operations.
The Department, together with the Air Riflemen, also contributes to the security arrangements for military deployments abroad, to peacekeeping and humanitarian aid operations, as well as to the implementation of protective measures at national level in the event of major events or the maintenance of public order.
Since 2012, Stormo has been providing logistical support, in its capacity as “base host”, to the 2nd NATO Signal Battalion. Since 2016, two grass airstrips called “launching pads” have also been active at Stormo; thanks to the use of the “skylaunch” system using a winch, they allow for flying with wings in the “Student at the Center” program, where the number of hours/flights flown by students at the Air Academy in Pozzuoli (NA) is expected to increase precisely from the Grazzanise air base.
