On Thursday 8 September, the 22 ° Radar Group AM (GrRAM) of Licola, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Gianluca Capasso, celebrated the sixtieth year since its establishment.
The ceremony was attended by the commander of the Air Operations Command (COA) of Poggio Renatico (FE), general of the air division Giovanni Fantuzzi, the representatives of the municipality of Giugliano and the military and civil authorities of the district.
Lieutenant Colonel Capasso, citing the origins of the department, recalled the commitment and dedication of the staff that made it possible to write sixty years of success, the constant enthusiasm in accepting new challenges so that "it continues to be a point of reference for the other departments and an example of efficiency in every sector, from the operational to the technical and logistic ", an arduous but" exciting and rewarding path if faced with the energy necessary to overcome every difficulty with a spirit of collaboration and as members of a mechanism perfect"
General Fantuzzi expressed words of deep appreciation towards the men and women of the department who, working with high-tech equipment, work day and night to ensure the safety of the country, with the fundamental support of the personnel of the technical components and logistics, without which it would not be possible to keep the operation of the radar base alive. The 22nd GrRAM embodies the effort of the Air Force for greater efficiency in the use of its resources: "in the 80s, 15 centers similar to this were needed to guarantee the safety of airspace with hundreds of people and waste of energy, thanks to a push an innovator in search of efficiency and effectiveness today the Armed Force with only two centers, that of Licola and that of Poggio Renatico, guarantees, with an absolutely avant-garde technological tool, the safety of the national airspace.
From 60 years, the 22 ° GrRAM also known as "BARCA-radar", from its name on the radio, continuously carries out its mission of safeguarding the national air space to spot, identify and monitor every air carrier operating inside or near it and ensure the control of the fighters called to intervene in case of need.
From the 8 September 1956 to today the department's mission has not changed and thanks to continuous technological updates, as well as trained and motivated personnel, the 22 ° Radar Group has increased its effectiveness by increasing its operational capabilities over time.
Inserted in the national command and control system (reporting directly to the Air Operations Command of Ferrara), and in NATO (directly reporting to the CAOC, Combined Air Operation Center of Torrejon in Spain), BARCA-radar in an international context where scenarios are changeable, maintains a versatile, timely and effective air defense capability, to face any threat to the country, protecting its airspace and its population.
The ceremony was also an opportunity to organize the gathering of the former members of the department who, from the 1956 to today, contributed to its delicate mission, operating in the operations room or in the same important supporting activities in the technical, logistical area and administrative.
