The Air Force General Staff has authorized the Messapic Department to provide support during the period from January 25 to the 29 February 2016, to the National Border Guard of the Republic (Valsts Robežsardze) of Latvia, which participates in the operation "Aeneas Patrol Flights”Conducted by the European Agency“ Frontex ”for the Management of Operational Cooperation with External Borders, of which Italy is one of the member countries.
The staff of the Guardia di Finanza, employed by the Aeronavale Taranto Group and the Maneuver Section of Grottaglie, will coordinate the activity of the Latvian National Border Guard, which will ensure the patrolling of the southern Adriatic with an Agusta Westland A-109 helicopter in order to limit the number of third-country nationals illegally entering EU territory, reduce the number of deaths and strengthen internal security throughout the EU by helping to prevent crime.
The Salento Detachment, will provide the necessary technical and logistic support service day and night, ensuring the ground assistance, the meteorological service as well as the coordination of the refueling operations.
The Frontex Agency has the task of coordinating operational cooperation between Member States on the management of external borders by assisting them in the formation of national border guards and developing common rules on training.
The Air Force, through the Brindisi detachment, has provided its support since 2011 to the various foreign assets that have alternated within the activities envisaged by Frontex, hosting redeployments of aircraft and personnel coming, among others, from Germany, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Malta, France, Spain, Poland, and Sweden.
the Detachment of Brindisi, placed under the Support Service of the Logistic Command, in addition to providing assistance to United Nations peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, also provides, 24 hours a day, 24 days a year, also the civil aviation weather service , assistance to passing aircraft belonging to NATO countries, providing logistical and administrative support to the Armed Forces of the Brindisi area.
