5 students of the Military Naval School 'F. Morosini 'in Pensacola

(To Marina Militare)
31/08/19

Five students of the 2nd Course aither took part in the “Deployment” course organized by the National Flight Academy at NAS Pensacola (Florida).

This activity stems from a will of dr. Lupo Rattazzi, former student of the then Morosini Naval College - "Sagittarius" Course (1968-1971). The “William F. Moore and CC Giorgio Bulgini” scholarship is dedicated to the father-in-law, a US Navy pilot who participated in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and to the commander of the then Naval College course.

The "Deployments" Course, divided into 6 days, engaged young people in exercises, missions (also in the flight simulator), STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs as Ambition eXperimental Pilots (AXPs) who carried out within a faithful reconstruction of an American aircraft carrier. The numerous activities lived in an extremely competitive and stimulating environment have constituted a unique and unrepeatable training experience.

Below is the story of one of the protagonists:

On Saturday 27 July 2019, at the end of the summer education campaign, and at the land training module at the San Marco marine brigade, we are preparing to leave, with destination Pensacola (United States). 

None of us has flown to the American territory before, therefore, on arrival we are amazed by the magnitude of everything we see: from cars to roads, to the air and naval base that will host us for this week. "We embark" on the aircraft carrier Ambition, of which from the first moment we appreciate the attention to detail and the realism with which it was reproduced.

Upon our arrival, we are given a logbook and a t-shirt that distinguishes our CAG (Carrier Air Group) and Squadron. The days that await us are marked by the rhythms that are followed in college, divided into accommodations according to the groups. We immediately have the opportunity to interact with our American peers. Usually the course hosts children between the ages of 9 and 18 from all over the world, but this week we are the only foreigners and we therefore enjoy talking a little in Italian with the most curious.

Distributed on the various decks of the ship we find the spaces dedicated to the simulation and immersion, the dormitories, the canteen, rooms for team building, simulators, the various JIC (Joint Intelligence Center) or JOC (Joint Operation Center) and a radar room and communications. 
Every day we carry out simulations of events or plausible catastrophes, moving with our foremen from the JIC, where an instructor updates us on the data collected mission after mission, to the JOC, where we plan specifically the route, consumption and time taken and the room radar from where the team that is in flight coordinates (on board the simulators).

The teams compete in an airshow, recover civilians from a crashed plane, go in search of a missing helicopter, make surveys about a hurricane hitting the coast along which Ambition is sailing, escort the Air Force One accompanying the president of the United States; each time trying to return to base with our X-12B Triad aircraft. The landing or hovering operations are not initially simple in the simulator, we need a little practice, but after a few days we too reach the levels of some American guys who, incredibly, already have a pilot's license.

Time passes really quickly, we never have a moment's break. The only times we “disembark” from Ambition are to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum and its Hangar Bay, a really modern, well-kept museum with many vintage aircraft. One of the most interesting parts of this is the one dedicated to the US Navy, with a reconstruction of the interior of a World War II ship and a film / documentary called "Aircraft Carrier" about the collaboration of Navies around the world in protection and defense. of the oceans.

The award ceremony, held on the last day, was really exciting: we received awards and a diploma, but above all flattering compliments from General Thiessen, who made the flight and the demonstration with the Harriers squadron on Garibaldi ship and by dr. Rattazzi.

We appreciated every single aspect of this experience: the teaching method, a little different from ours, which immediately involves from a practical point of view, the level of technologies used, the ability to make learning fun and the possibility of increasing command of the English language. Honored to have started this wonderful initiative, we return to Italy with an unforgettable experience and memories of the Ambition crew and immense gratitude for those who made this possible.

Ex scientia, alae - Motto of Ambition