90th Anniversary of the establishment of the Bari-Palese airport

(To air Force)
14/10/20

Today the Headquarters of the Command Schools AM / 3rd Air Region (CSAM HQ / 3 ^ RA) celebrated the 90th anniversary of the establishment of its headquarters: the Bari-Palese military airport.

The anniversary, in strict compliance with the restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 health emergency, was celebrated during the raising of the department flag, in the presence of Brigadier General Romeo Paternò, deputy commander of the Command of the AM Schools / 3rd Air Region (CSAM / 3ª RA) and of Colonel Maurizio Ortenzi, commander of the HQ of CSAM / 3 ^ RA, as well as a representation of the staff of the HQ and co-located entities.

Born as an airfield to protect the city of Bari during the First World War, it was officially inaugurated as a military airport on 12 October 1930 and named after "Umberto di Savoia". Currently, the airport is named after "Jacopo Calò Carducci", a pilot colonel from Bari of the Regia Aeronautica who crashed during the Libya campaign with a Savoia-Marchetti S-79 bomber.

The military airport of Bari Palese was then used by the Italian Air Force during the course of the 2nd World War and, after the Liberation, also by the British and US allied flight departments. After the conflict, the airport was established 1st Autonomous Flight Department of 4th Territorial Air Zone and subsequently the Flight Training Center of the newly formed 3rd Air Region. From 1982, the runway was closed with the opening of a new civil runway and the Presidential Logistics Department was established and, from April 1, 1996, the Headquarters command.

Brigadier General Romeo Paternò, taking the floor, underlined how "... days like this, of remembrance, celebration, celebration, attention to the history of our departments strengthen ties both with the territory and within the Air Force Military, they strengthen feelings of participation and pride in their roots, make the institutional objectives we are called to pursue stronger and more shared ".

Colonel Ortenzi, underlining the importance of the history of the airport in the Bari and Apulian territory, highlighted that "... all this evolution was possible only thanks to the daily work of many men and women who over time, albeit alternating with each other, seen with today's gaze, show themselves as a great cohesive and professional team".

For the occasion, a commemorative plaque of the event was created which reproduces all the badges of the departments based in the military airport, ideally linking them to the ninety years of history celebrated.