The course that had just ended, entirely managed by the 212th flight group of the 61st Wing led by Major Alessandro O., lasted about five months and was hard and demanding. The Asian pilots underwent intense training for a total of about 1000 events, including flight activities on the FT339C aircraft and related simulators, divided into missions with simulated ground attack profile, air-to-air combat missions and "refueling in flight". Furthermore, the introduction of the “Swing Role” syllabus, the new training program used for the first time with the young Singapore “eagles”, has brought several innovations aimed at improving the pilot's approach to high-performance aircraft.
The young pilots of the "City of the Lion", can be considered to all intents and purposes a product of Italian training. In fact, at the 213 ° flight group of the same Salento flight school, they attended phase III, which ended with the achievement of the prestigious "eagle turrita". They then moved on to the 212 ° flight group, for the advanced phase IV procedure, indispensable for the continuation of their career as fighter pilots. In fact, Singapore students, after spending about 14 months at the Galatina flight school, will return to their home country where they will be assigned to the latest generation aircraft such as the F16 Block 52 and the F15 Strike Eagle.
Words of appreciation for the work carried out were expressed by Colonel Tarantino who, in offering his congratulations to the new "pre-operational" pilots, did not fail to highlight the contribution of all the personnel of the base to the achievement of the prestigious objective. "Having successfully completed the training of 5 other foreign pilots - declared the commander of the Galatina military airport - as well as making us proud and making us even more aware of the means and professional skills of which the Department is the custodian, represents the 'yet another proof of how the Salento Flight School is considered a unique reality in the international panorama of military flight training. A moment of profound transformation is underway in the AM training sector: the training of Singapore pilots represents a clear example of rationalization of shared resources in the "Country System" and once again demonstrates the flexibility of the military instrument, and in particular of the AM training sector. The forthcoming introduction of the T346 set-up, as a trainer for the more advanced phases, will give further impetus to the training process of the Air Force pilots and will further strengthen relations with foreign Air Forces already equipped with the same system ".
Source: 61 ° Stormo - Galatina (LE) - cap. Angelo Guerrieri
