The Board of Directors of the NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Management Organisation (BoD NAGSMO) visited the base of Sigonella
The large international delegation, representing the different NATO Nations, was led by the General Manager of the NAGSMA (NATO) Alliance Ground Surveillance Agency) James EdwardEdge (United States) and from the Chairman of Board of Directors NAGSMOErling HannivigWang (Norway) and was accompanied by a representation of the Air Force. Upon their arrival, the Guests were received by Colonel Vincenzo SICUSO, Commander of the Airport and the 41st Anti-Submarine Squadron.
Colonel Sicuso, after presenting an explanatory presentation on the activities of the Wing and the deployment of the next AGS infrastructure at the base, which was supported and assisted by Captain J. Christopher Dennis, Commander of the Naval Air Station (NAS) of the United States Navy at Sigonella, and Colonel Pilot Alessandro Amendola, Head of the Initial Training Nucleus of the National Support Department for the NATO AGS at Sigonella, showed the members of the NAGSMO Board the base, stopping at the Flight Groups, the Aircraft Efficiency Group – where they had the opportunity to admire the Atlantic aircraft up close – and the hangar under construction for the 41st Wing.
The day continued with a tour of the areas of the airbase that were already undergoing work under the AGS program and of the part of the base occupied by the U.S. Navy’s NAS, where in particular the local hospital was visited.
The visit concluded with the handing over by Colonel Sicuso of a souvenir item to Mr Edge, who reciprocated with the crest of the NAGSMO.
Before leaving the Base and continuing the Sicilian tour that began already on April 8th, the BoD delegation thanked Colonel Sicuso for the hospitality, confirming, as reiterated by Mr. Edge, that the 41st Air Wing represents “a brilliant example of the operational efficiency of the Air Force and all the Italian Armed Forces.”.
The mission of the 41st Air Wing consists of countering the underwater and naval threat and providing long-range search and rescue service in the sea to protect the main maritime routes, with the aim of keeping potentially hostile underwater and surface naval units under control. These activities are complemented by the control of commercial traffic in the Mediterranean, as part of the “post-September 11th” operations against international terrorism, and the support for activities aimed at controlling migratory flows from the southern quadrants of the Mediterranean, ensuring daily coverage of the large areas of interest and allowing the timely location of refugees at sea, alerting the relevant authorities and ensuring a constant and ready S.A.R. (Search and Rescue) intervention in the event of maritime incidents and shipwrecks.
