The Air Force is about to launch the first center of excellence for the specific training of pilots employed on the transport flight lines.
Located under the direct control of the Command of the Forces for Mobility and Support (CFMS), the new Multi-crew Training Center (CAEMC) is hosted by the facilities of the 14th Squadron at Pratica di Mare (Rome) and employs its pilots, as well as those of the other transport squadrons, as instructors for the courses that are held there.
The courses aim to provide the participants with all the qualifications and knowledge necessary to operate safely and professionally, in a standardized manner, in scenarios that are not only military but, above all, civil ones with a high density of national and international traffic.
In addition to theoretical courses, participants also use the new flight simulator with high-definition split-screen technology, one of the latest technological resources offered by the international market, capable of reproducing all the navigation systems of the Generic Twin Pistone Engine and Generic Twin Turbofan jet aircraft, simulating realistic scenarios that simulate technical and operational problems, all meteorological conditions and the specific procedures for approaching the most important world airports, all of which are faithfully reproduced with continuous updates to the database.
This training facility is poised to become an aviation excellence for the Italian Air Force in terms of the resources invested and potential operational implications, as it will soon allow for a significant economic savings by reducing the flight hours required for specific training activities on the aircraft while simultaneously raising safety standards, thus placing it in a position of prominence and attracting a high level of interest from other national and foreign Armed Forces. The new flight simulator was officially inaugurated on Thursday 3 December, in the presence of Air Force Commander Carmine Pollice, Commander of the Air Force of Rome, Air Force Commander Gianpiero Gargini, Commander of the A.M. Schools/3rd Air Region of Bari, Air Brigade Commander Vincenzo Parma, Commander of the Mobility and Support Forces, and other civil and military personalities. Colonel Giorgio Seravalle, Commander of the 14th Squadron, welcomed the Authorities; in the conference room of the CAE, immediately after General Pollice’s greeting, he introduced the briefing on the operation of the simulator given by Lieutenant Colonel Michele Buccolo, Commander of the CAE Multicrew under CFMS, and by Major Giuseppe Addesa, Commander of the CAE of the Squadron. General Parma then intervened to explain the reasons that led to the launch of the entire project, highlighting that “the intention was to create, within the Armed Forces, a military pilot figure who also possesses all the necessary knowledge for a civil line pilot. Indeed, at the end of the CAEMC courses, military pilots will take the exams also at the National Civil Aviation Agency (ENAC), thereby increasing interoperability with the civil aviation sector”. At the end, the ribbon-cutting marked the start of the operational life of the simulator, which was “tested” on the occasion by two exceptional pilots, General Pollice and General Gargini, who expressed their appreciation for the work carried out and for the technical realization of the entire structure.
