During a solemn ceremony, the honors were conferred on the flags of war and on the staff. The event was held inside the hangar of the 60 ° Stormo di Guidonia (Rm) and was chaired by the Chief of Staff of the AM, Air Squad General Luca Goretti, in the presence of numerous civil, military and religious.
The ceremony to confer the honors on the Guidonia military airport took place this morning War flags, Departments and personnel of the Air Force (AM) who contributed to the Operation "Eagle Omnia ", the airlift that in August 2021 guaranteed the safe humanitarian evacuation of thousands of people fromAfghanistan. .
An extraordinary operation that saw the Armed Force on the front line with aircraft, crews and support personnel, helping to make Italy one of the European countries that evacuated the largest number of Afghan citizens, well 4.890 - including 1.301 women and 1.453 children - out of a total of 5011 people who left Afghanistan in the two weeks after August 2021th XNUMX.
The ceremony opened with the awarding, by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, of the Gold Medals for Aeronautical Valor to the War Flags of the 46 ^ Pisa Air Brigade, the 9th Wing of Grazzanise, the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare, the 16th Wing of Martina Franca and 17th Wing of Furbara, for the extraordinary commitment made in the respective areas of employment during the operation.
It was then the turn of the conferment of the Silver Medals for Aeronautical Valor to the Aerospace Operations Command, to the Mobility and Support Forces Command, and to the Air Division General Alessandro By Lorenzo and to Col. Federico Merola, Commanders of the 46 ^ Air Brigade and the 14 ° Stormo respectively.
The ceremony continued with the awarding of the Silver Medals for Aeronautical Valor to the crews of the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa and the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare and the staff of the 16th Wing "Riflemen of the Air" and the 17th Wing "Raiders", for the courage, effectiveness and particular expertise with which they have been able to face unprecedented and highly dangerous situations in the circumstance. Also awarded a Bronze Medal for Aeronautical Valor to AM personnel employed at COVI and Bronze Medals for Aeronautical Merit to personnel employed in various areas of the Armed Force for the precious coordination work carried out by the motherland in favor of the Departments engaged in the airlift.
"It was one of the largest humanitarian air bridges ever put in place, certainly the largest in which Italy has ever participated", General Goretti said in his speech. "Today it is above all an anniversary that has as protagonists those who, in those agitated moments in Afghan territory, showed courage, altruism and skill. You have brought prestige not only to the Departments to which you belong, whose Flags surround you today as silent witnesses of the oath of allegiance taken years ago, but to the entire Armed Force, demonstrating that you are able to face the most unexpected and complex challenges, solid in our principles, firm in the awareness of our abilities, serene in the certainty of our values, which is what our history teaches us and what those who preceded us in the now centennial history of aeronautics indicate to us ". The Chief of Staff concluded, "to all of you, and to the entire Armed Force, which has been able to ensure support and support for the front line Departments on this occasion, my thanks and my sincere closeness. Be proud to be part of an Armed Force which, facing new challenges and a speed of change never experienced before, knows how to be concretely projected towards the development and use of innovative and transversal technologies for the service and useful to the community ".
Il Aerospace Operations Command of Poggio Renatico has established, from the beginning of the Operation, an "operational" planning cell active 24 hours a day to support with air plans, continuously updated according to the developments in the situation in Afghanistan, the transport needs represented by the Operational Command of the Joint Forces Summit (COVI). In Kabul first, with the C-130Js of the 46th Air Brigade up to Al Salem, in Kuwait, always in safety, protected by the personnel of the Air Riflemen of the 9th and 16th Wing and the Raiders of the 17th Wing; then from Kuwait to Rome, with the KC-767A of the 14 ° Stormo. On board the aircraft, medical personnel and, to support the operation, also the personnel of the 3rd Wing and other branches of the Support Service of the AM Logistic Command. A commitment, that of the Air Force, which was not limited to the airlift only, but which saw personnel and vehicles also engaged in guaranteeing the logistical support necessary for ground transport to and from the structures (civil and military) specifically identified for carrying out quarantine periods for all Afghan citizens who arrived in Italy, as well as ensuring a few hundred beds at the AM detachments of Montescuro and Piacenza, where it was possible to carry out the isolation of Afghan civilian personnel before entering the program "Reception and Integration System - Extraordinary Reception Centers" (SAI-CAS) by the Ministry of the Interior.