Aviano Air Base

Aviano military airfield ; “Pagliano e Gori”
Characteristics
ICAO code	LIPA
IATA code	AVB
Coordinates	46 ° 1 '55 " N , 12 ° 35' 47" E Coordinates: 46 ° 1 '55 " N , 12 ° 35' 47" E
Height above MSL	125 m (410 ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	3 km south of Aviano
Street	SP 7
train	Pordenone train station
Local transport	bus
Basic data
opening	1911
operator	US Air Force
Start-and runway
05/23	2606 m × 44 m asphalt

The Aviano military airfield (Aeroporto militare di Aviano “Pagliano e Gori”) is located in north-eastern Italy . The military airfield is owned by the Italian military, which also controls it; it is used under the name Aviano Air Base by the US Air Force , which financed the expansion of the facility. Aviano is the location of the 31st Fighter Wing , one with fighter aircraft type F-16 equipped squadron , and a helicopter unit.

Location and infrastructure

The airfield is located in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region , around ten kilometers north of Pordenone and around three kilometers south of Aviano at the foot of the southern Carnic Alps . The main entrance is on the SP 7 road that connects Aviano and Pordenone. The runway (05/23) with a length of around 2600 meters and two taxiways running parallel to it extends to the south-west . In the south and south-west of the area there are parking areas and numerous protected shelters for combat aircraft, in the north there are handling and parking areas for transport aircraft, helipads and some maintenance hangars . Various administrative buildings, accommodations and social facilities are located south of the military facilities. Aviano is connected to the Northern Italy Pipeline System .

use

F-16 in Aviano at the foot of the Alps

According to the current US stationing concept, Aviano is a Main Operating Base and as such is the location of the “31. Kampfgeschwaders "( 31st Fighter Wing ) of the United States Air Forces in Europe . The squadron consists of an operational group ( 31st Operations Group ) with the two flying squadrons 510th Fighter Squadron “Buzzards” and 555th Fighter Squadron “Triple Nickel” , an air traffic control squadron ( 603rd Air Control Squadron ) and a squadron for planning and support ( 31st Operations Support Squadron ). The two flying squadrons are equipped with a total of around 50 F-16C / D, which, among other things , can use type B61-4 atomic bombs stored in Aviano . As a distinguishing mark, the aircraft have the letters AV on the tail unit , which refer to the stationing place Aviano. The 31st Squadron also includes a technical group ( 31st Maintenance Group ), a support group ( 31st Mission Support Group ) and a medical group ( 31st Medical Group ). These groups are also divided into (up to six) squadrons and also have number 31. An accounting squadron ( 31st Comptroller Squadron ) reports directly to the squadron staff.

In 2018, a CSAR component , consisting of the 56th Rescue Squadron with helicopters of the type HH-60G Pave Hawk and the 57th Rescue Squadron with pararescue combat rescuers , was relocated from the British military airfield RAF Lakenheath to Aviano.

In addition to the 31st Squadron, other units and aircraft from the United States and its allies use Aviano Air Base as required . There is an Italian airfield command at the military airfield that takes on sovereign tasks and monitors compliance with usage rights.

history

On January 25, 1911, the area of today's air base was subordinated to the air battalion of the Italian engineer force . On April 19, 1911, a military flight school began operations here , which largely replaced the one in Rome-Centocelle . During the First World War , the Aviano airfield was used by several bomber squadrons, which were mainly equipped with aircraft of the Caproni type. From here, on May 10, 1916, Captain Maurizio Pagliano and Lieutenant Luigi Gori started an unauthorized, successful air raid on the shipyard in Pola in today's Croatia . The Aviano military airfield was later named after the two pilots who died in 1917. After the twelfth battle of the Isonzo and the withdrawal of the Italian troops west of the Piave , Aviano was used by the Austro-Hungarian aviation troops from November 1917 until the end of the war in 1918 . The Flik 103 / G, 104 / G and 105 / G flying companies were stationed there and used Aviano as a base for their nightly bombing raids on targets behind the Italian front.

After the war the flight school mentioned continued the training of fighter pilots and bomber pilots. In the 1930s the airfield was expanded and divided into two areas: "Aviano-North" was reserved for bombers, "Aviano-South" for fighters. Both areas each had a grass runway and three maintenance hangars. In the middle there were administrative and support facilities. The pilot training was also in the foreground during the Second World War . In addition, the airfield was used for the reorganization or conversion of Italian squadrons. After the armistice in Cassibile , the airfield came under the control of the German Air Force from September 1943, which set up an air base command here. In the following period, parts of Kampfgeschwader 76 and Lehrgeschwader 1 were stationed here. The airfield was also used by the Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana , the air force of the fascist Italian Social Republic . ANR pilots were retrained here on the Bf 109.

Between December 1943 and May 1945, Allied bombers attacked Aviano airfield several times and ultimately largely destroyed it. In May 1945 it was occupied by Allied ground troops. The British Royal Air Force temporarily stationed Douglas A-20 light bombers in Aviano and then left only one airfield command behind to control the airfield until it was returned to the Italian Air Force in 1947.

In 1950 the Italian army took over the southern area of the airfield in order to accommodate parts of the Ariete armored division after renovation work . In August 1952 the Italian Air Force moved its 51st Squadron ( 51º Stormo ) from Treviso to Aviano and equipped it there with the F-84G . The squadron finally had three flying squadrons and was given the status of a brigade ( 51ª Aerobrigata ) according to the air force structure at the time . In 1954 the association moved to the reopened Istrana military airfield .

Activation of the 31st Fighter Wing on April 1st, 1994 in Aviano

In October 1954 the governments of the USA and Italy signed an agreement that allowed the United States Air Forces in Europe to use the Aviano military airfield, among other things. The Americans took over the airfield on February 15, 1955 and initially called it Aviano Airfield , from January 1, 1956, Aviano Air Base . No US airborne units were permanently stationed at Aviano during the Cold War . The airfield only served as an advanced base for various squadrons, who regularly came here for exercises and used the air-to-ground firing range near Maniago , among other things . The operational readiness of the air base was ensured by the 7207th Air Base Squadron until 1957 , the 7227th Support Group until 1966 and then the 40th Tactical Group (from 1990 40th Tactical Support Wing ) until 1992. Frequent guests in Aviano were F-100 combat aircraft , F-4 , F-16 and A-10 .

At the end of the 1980s, plans were made to move the F-16 equipped 401st Tactical Fighter Wing from Torrejón in Spain to Crotone in southern Italy. The staff and parts of the squadron came to Aviano in May 1992 as part of an interim solution, followed by the staff of the 16th Air Force in August 1992 . The armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia soon required the permanent stationing of US task forces in Aviano. With Operation Deny Flight , the number of US soldiers in Aviano rose rapidly to 3,500, whereas the base was only designed to accommodate around 1,500 soldiers. First, various emergency solutions were found and limited expansion measures were initiated. After the Italian army units had withdrawn from the former southern part of the airfield, a major expansion was set in motion here under the name "Aviano 2000". The investment ended up being over half a billion US dollars .

Crest of the 31st Fighter Wing

1992 devastated Hurricane Andrew , the Homestead Air Force Base in Florida , the base of the 31st Fighter Wing . In Aviano, the squadron found a new home on April 1, 1994, where it replaced the disbanded 401st squadron. The F-16 fighter aircraft for the two reactivated squadrons 510 and 555 were withdrawn from Ramstein Air Base in Germany . They have been used repeatedly in support of international missions in the former Yugoslavia. Aviano also served as a base for a number of other units from the USA and other countries. It was from here that American F-117s launched into attacks on Serbian targets in 1999 as part of the Kosovo war . In addition, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , the airfield played an important role in supporting international military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq . In March 2003, parts of the 173rd US Airborne Brigade stationed in Vicenza flew from Aviano for their airborne missions in northern Iraq. In December 2006 Aviano lost the staff of the 16th Air Force , which was later disbanded entirely.

Others

In June 1995, Scott O'Grady , pilot of the 555th Fighter Squadron , took off from Aviano in an F-16 for a mission over Bosnia and Herzegovina , where it was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile made by Bosnian Serbs. His struggle for survival in hostile territory, which lasted several days, and his spectacular rescue were later filmed under the title Im Fadhreuz - Alone against all .

On February 3, 1998, an EA-6B Prowler of the US Marine Corps took off from Aviano for a training flight in the Italian Alps. The crew irresponsibly disregarded the local restrictions on low-level flights and cut the suspension cable of a cable car near Cavalese , killing 20 people . The inadequate legal processing in the US from an Italian perspective led to discussions about a possible end to the use of the Aviano military airfield by the US armed forces.

In 2003 Aviano Air Base played a role in the kidnapping of Imam Abu Omar by the CIA and SISMI .

From the road that leads from Aviano in a northerly direction to the winter sports resort of Piancavallo , the military airfield and the flight operations there can be observed with good visibility.

Aviano military airfield should not be confused with La Comina airfield, located about three kilometers north of Pordenone . One of the first civil flight schools in Italy was founded here on August 7, 1910. During the First World War, Comina airfield was under the Aviano airfield command and was also used for military purposes. With its grass runway (18/36), the airfield is now used exclusively for Aeroclub Pordenone and general aviation . Due to the proximity to the Aviano military airfield, flight operations may be restricted in La Comina .

Web links

Commons : Aviano Air Base - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Airport data on World Aero Data ( 2006 )
Web presence of Aviano AB (English)
"Aviano is experiencing renaissance" - Reprint from Airman magazine (English)

Individual evidence

↑ Presentation of the legal situation on carabinieri.it (Italian)
↑ Campi di aviazione italiani - Aviano (PN). In: ilfrontedelcielo.it. Retrieved December 10, 2019 (Italian).
↑ Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Italy, Sicily and Sardinia , pp 17-19 , accessed on October 3, 2015.
^ National Geographic documentary '50 Seconds Before Calamity - The Cavalese Cable Car Disaster 'from 2011

[1] Presentation of the legal situation on carabinieri.it (Italian)

[2] Campi di aviazione italiani - Aviano (PN). In: ilfrontedelcielo.it. Retrieved December 10, 2019 (Italian).

[3] Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Italy, Sicily and Sardinia , pp 17-19 , accessed on October 3, 2015.

[4] National Geographic documentary '50 Seconds Before Calamity - The Cavalese Cable Car Disaster 'from 2011