Thursday 28 November, at the hangar of the 313 ° aerobatic training group “Frecce Tricolori”, the handover of command ceremony was held National Acrobatic Patrol between Lieutenant Colonel Massimiliano Salvatore, outgoing commander, and Lieutenant Colonel Franco Paolo Marocco, incoming commander.
The ceremony, presided over by Air Division General Marco Lant, commander of the Combat Forces, saw the participation of the highest military and civil authorities of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.
As per tradition, the ground event was preceded by a symbolic handover in flight, a unique moment that occurs exclusively on the occasion of the change of command and represents a peculiarity in the aerobatic program of the Frecce Tricolori.
During the exhibition, the formation performed a series of passages culminating with the detachment of Lieutenant Colonel Salvatore, thus sealing the official transition of leadership to Lieutenant Colonel Marocco.
In his farewell speech, Lt. Col. Salvatore expressed his emotion for the years spent with the National Acrobatic Patrol, which began as a gregarious and culminated in the role of Soloist from 2019 to 2022. He thanked the men and women of the Frecce Tricolori for the work done and his family for the constant support, emphasizing the importance of the mission of the 313th group. With great emotion he declared: “The extraordinary ability of this Group to touch people's hearts is a heritage of memories and experiences that I will jealously guard for my entire life and that will be my source of inspiration to face new challenges”.
Assuming command as the 26th Commander of the Frecce Tricolori, Lt. Col. Morocco expressed his gratitude: “I am fortunate to undertake this new role together with a group of extraordinary people, excellent professionals who represent a unique set of skills, technical capabilities and workflows that are as rigorous as they are flexible and effective”.
General Lant closed the speeches by greeting the representatives of the institutions and underlining how: “Today's Ceremony expresses a solemn and apical moment that makes public evidence of a process that happens every day, albeit in silence, when each of us is called, gradually, to raise whoever will succeed us, to collect, guard and pass on what we have learned so that we can only improve to continue to recreate and perfect the art of collective acrobatic flight”.
Il 313 ° aerobatic training group, this is the official denomination of Frecce Tricolori, is a flight department of the Air Force made up of approximately 100 soldiers, who are entrusted with the task of representing the capabilities of the entire Armed Forces.
Since 1 March 1961, the date of its establishment on the Rivolto (UD) air base, the National Acrobatic Patrol, which recently concluded its 64rd season, has the honor of representing, with its spectacular aerial acrobatics, the over 40.000 men and women of the Air Force and the values they carry forward every day: cohesion, team spirit, professionalism, dedication and sacrifice. This makes it a symbol of our Armed Forces and of Italy in the world.
