Air Rescue personnel are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of their Unit Thursday 4th July, at the 15th Wing in Cervia, in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, Air Squad General Alberto Rosso, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Air Rescue Specialists Unit (ARS) was celebrated. The ceremony was attended by civil, military and religious authorities from the provinces of Ravenna and Forlì-Cesena and the senior leadership of the 15th Wing's chain of command. The 15th Wing of the Italian Air Force is subordinate to the Air Fleet Command through the Support and Special Forces Command. It ensures the search and rescue of flight crews in difficulty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, as well as contributing to public utility activities such as the search for missing persons at sea or in the mountains, emergency medical transport of life-threatened patients and the rescue of severely traumatised individuals, forest firefighting activities, and Slow Mover Interception (SMI) missions during major events. The training level of the crews, the characteristics of the aircraft supplied, and the use of special equipment and techniques, such as the use of night-vision goggles, often make the Italian Air Force the only component capable of successfully managing the most complex emergency situations thanks, for example, to its capability for deployment by day, by night, and in marginal weather conditions. Whenever a 15th Wing helicopter is in flight, it is either saving a human life or training to do so, having saved over 7,300 people in mortal danger since its reconstitution to the present day.
