With the take-off to Italy of the four Eurofighters, the named operation officially ended on 17 August Black Shield, conducted by Task Force Air 4th Wing as part of the NATO “Enhanced Air Policing” mission, at the Mihail Kogalniceanu air base, near Constanta in Romania.
The term was formally celebrated with the greeting ceremony by the Romanian authorities, held last week in the presence of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Fortele Aeriene Romane, major general Constantin Dobre and the commander of the air team, General sa Gianni Candotti, in representation of the Italian defense. The re-deployment phase will follow in the next few days with the gradual return to Italy of the personnel and material.
The mission, which began in May, with the redeployment of four Eurofighters Typhoon of the Air Force with its pilots, technicians, specialists and logistic personnel, has seen employed about 130 soldiers from the Eurofighter Stormi - 4th, 36th and 37th wing - with the contribution of other departments of the armed force and interforces and two military belonging to the Carabinieri with the functions of military police.
Since May 14th, following the delivery of the Full Operational Capability by the evaluating staff coming from the CAOC (Combined Air Operations Center) of Torrejon, for four months, the Italian detachment contributed to ensuring the integrity of NATO airspace, supporting the Romanian air surveillance activity already ensured by the Fortele Aeriene Romane with MIG-21 assets.
In this period, the assets of Task Force Air reached the prestigious milestone of 500 flight hours, carrying out 4 alpha scramble and numerous missions of Scramble simulated (in jargon Tango Scramble) for training in the operational readiness of the crews.
To these missions, there is the daily training activity carried out jointly with the Romanian air force and with the other air forces of allied countries present in the area of operation as well as with surface and maritime forces.
In fact, the pilots carried out exercise missions of close support to ground troops (CAS - Close Air Support) in collaboration with soldiers of the American and Romanian armies, offering them the possibility to train qualified military JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller).
In addition to the flight crews, the training also involved the Italian personnel working for the Task Force and seconded to the Control and Reporting Center from Balotesti, near Bucharest, which has carried out activities as a hunting guide, support and training assistant for the Romanian homologous counterpart.
There were also other opportunities for comparison and training between the Italian staff deployed and personnel of the Romanian air force, in the areas of maintenance and emergency management.
Activities that not only represent opportunities for professional growth for the staff of the Task Force, but which have contributed to strengthening the integration of forces and friendship within the Alliance, promoting the analysis, deepening and improvement of procedures and tactics . Opportunities highly appreciated also by the host nation which has always expressed its recognition to the staff of the Task Force for having worked together in these four months.
