"If the Fenice has operated successfully it is due to the cohesion and the very high professionalism of all the personnel," said Colonel Potenza in his farewell address.
From the 2005, year of use of the aviation of the army in Afghanistan, the task force "Fenice" has crossed the threshold of 20.000 hours of flight and carried out more than 7.000 missions in favor of the units of the coalition and in support of the Afghan security forces .
During the six-month mission spent under Colonel Potenza's orders, the "blue Basques" operated with CH-47 "Chinook" helicopters (an indispensable asset in logistic support, infiltration and exfiltration missions of coalition special forces and refueling activities). urgently at the checkpoints of the Afghan security forces), helicopters A 129 "Mangusta" (with tasks of exploration and escorting the land convoys of ISAF and the MI-17 Afghans, the helicopters used to transport the ballot boxes and representatives of electoral commissions in the most remote districts of the country) and NH-90 multi-role helicopters (the only national structure in the theater responsible for the medical evacuation of wounded).
Source: Italian contingent in Afghanistan
