Yesterday morning, at the military airport of Guidonia, the ceremony for the conferral of honors on War Flags, units and personnel of the Air Force who contributed to the "Aquila Omnia" operation, the airlift that in August of 2021 guaranteed the safe humanitarian evacuation of thousands of people from Afghanistan.
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 event, which was held inside the hangar of the 60th wing, was chaired by the chief of staff of the Air Force, air squad general Luca Goretti, and saw the participation of numerous civil, military and religious.
The ceremony opened with the conferral by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force of the Gold Medals for Aeronautical Valor to the War Flags of the 46th Air Brigade of Pisa, of the 9th Wing of Grazzanise, of the 14th Wing of Pratica di Mare, of the 16th Wing of Martina Franca and of the 17th Wing of Furbara, for the extraordinary commitment lavished in their respective areas of use during the operation.
It was then the turn of the conferment of Silver Medals for Aeronautical Valor al aerospace operations command, command forces for mobility and support, and to the general of the air division Alessandro De Lorenzo and to the col. Federico Merola, commanders of the 46th air brigade and the 14th wing respectively during the operation.
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 "Fucilieri dell'Aria" and the 17th Wing "Incursori", for the courage, effectiveness and particular expertise with which they were 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", said the general of sa Goretti in his speech. "Today is above all an anniversary that has as protagonists those who, in those agitated moments in Afghan territory, showed courage, altruism and expertise. You have brought prestige not only to the departments you belong to, whose flags today surround you as silent witnesses of oath of loyalty given years ago, but to the entire Armed Force, demonstrating that it is 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 the our history 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. new challenges and a speed of change never experienced before, it knows how to be concretely projected towards the development and use of innovative and transversal technologies for the service and useful to the community ".
