Iraq: handover to the Griffon Task Group

(To Army Majority State)
12/08/19

The 8 August was held at the military area of ​​Erbil airport, the ceremony to replace the command of the Aircraft Task Group "Griffon", UH90 helicopter unit of the Italian Army Aviation employed in the mission in Iraq with air mobility tasks as part of the operation Inherent Resolve.

In the presence of the commander of the Italian contingent and director of training of the anti-Daesh Coalition, Brigadier General Paolo Attilio Fortezza and of the Italian consul in Erbil, Serena Muroni, the Task Group based on the 5th regiment Rigel Casarsa della Delizia officially passed the baton to colleagues of the 7th regiment Vega of Rimini.

General Fortezza during his speech congratulated the staff of the "Griffon" Task Group for the excellent work done during his mandate in the theater and wished the new commander good work.

The changeover occurs after six months of intense air transport activity carried out under the operational control of the Combat Aviation Brigade US-led Task Force Warhawk and conducted in collaboration with the Task Force "Gunfighter", helicopter department of the US Army Aviation stationed in Erbil.

As evidence of the professional bond created with Italian colleagues, a large representation of staff and flight crews of UH60 helicopters Black Hawk, AH64 Apache and CH47 Chinook who carried out numerous transport missions in mixed formations with Italian UH90, attended the ceremony.

The handover between the flying groups of the 5th and 7th regiments of the "Friuli" aircraft brigade has been repeated periodically since 2016, when the Task Group Griffon, with attack helicopters Mongoose, UH90 tactical transport helicopters and a component of operators of the 66 ° infantry aircraft regiment, was deployed on Erbil with tasks of Personnel Recovery.