Decimomannu military airfield

Decimomannu military airfield; “Giovanni Farina”
Characteristics
ICAO code	SONG
IATA code	DCI
Coordinates	39 ° 21 '15 " N , 8 ° 58' 21" E Coordinates: 39 ° 21 '15 " N , 8 ° 58' 21" E
Height above MSL	30 m (98 ft )
Transport links
Distance from the city center	22 km northwest of Cagliari
Basic data
opening	1939
operator	Aeronautica Militare
surface	556 ha
Runways
17R / 35L	2611 m × 23 m asphalt
17L / 35R	2990 m × 45 m asphalt

The Decimomannu military airfield is located in the south of the Italian Mediterranean island of Sardinia . During the Cold War , the airfield was used by the air forces of various NATO member states for training purposes, after which the air forces of Italy and Germany operated it . With the dissolution of the Tactical Training Command of the Air Force Italy on December 14, 2016, the German use of the airfield ended.

Location and connection

The airfield is located in the alluvial plain of Campidano , around 20 kilometers northwest of Cagliari , the regional capital of Sardinia, between the municipalities of Decimomannu in the south, Decimoputzu in the west, Villasor in the north and San Sperate in the east. The military airfield can be reached from the city center and from the civil airport of Cagliari-Elmas via the motorway-like road SS 130 and then immediately west of Decimomannu in a northerly direction on the state road 196. Immediately south of Decimomannu there is a train station from which the cities of Cagliari, Iglesias and Carbonia as well as the north of Sardinia can be reached.

Infrastructure and use

The airfield has a runway (17/35) that is almost three kilometers long and runs in a north-south direction . A reserve runway running parallel to it usually serves as a taxiway . Most of the military installations with parking areas and barracks are located to the west of the railways mentioned . In the north-west and south-west, parking areas with protected aircraft shelters were originally intended for two squadrons . The shelters were never built and the two areas were then partially rebuilt. A third largely parallel runway serves as a storage area; it enables around 100 combat aircraft to be accommodated.

Badge of the Italian training unit in Decimomannu (a nuragic archer )

Except for a rescue helicopter - unit no flying units are permanently stationed at Decimomannu. A test and training unit of the Italian Air Force has remained at the airfield . Flying units usually move for several days or a few weeks from their home airfields to Decimomannu and from there practice dogfights and attacks on ground targets in specially designated air spaces .

Off the southwest coast of Sardinia, in the section between Oristano in the north and the island of Sant'Antioco in the south, there is a restricted area (R54 / D40) in which, with the support of special sensors (Autonomous Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation A-ACMI), air battles between fighter planes, also of different types and nationalities can be simulated (Dissimilar Air Combat Training) . A few kilometers southwest of Oristano, the air space over the headland Capo Frasca is closed (R59). Capo Frasca serves as an air-to-ground firing range . In the far south of Sardinia there is a military training area near Teulada , over which the airspace is also closed (R46). Fighter planes and helicopters are also used here for larger military maneuvers . From Decimomannu, exercise and test missions are also carried out in the restricted area of Salto di Quirra (R39 / D33) further northeast , especially by the Italian air force and industry .

history

Shortly before the Second World War , Sardinia had four airports: Cagliari-Elmas (grass runway and sea airfield ), Cagliari-Monserrato , Alghero-Fertilia (next to the sea airfield Porto Conte) and Olbia (grass runway and sea airfield ). From 1939 further military airfields were created, the most important of which were at Villacidro and Decimomannu. Over time, airfields at Capoterra , Sa Zeppara , Santa Giusta ( sea airfield ), Fenosu , Milis , Borore , Ottana , Chilivani , Vena Fiorita and others were added.

B-26 Marauder in 1943 in Decimomannu

The Decimomannu airfield, which at that time was largely in the area of the municipality of Villasor, had a 2000 meter long grass runway and initially three simple buildings, later maintenance halls , a chapel and air raid shelter were added. The history of the airfield in World War II is closely connected with two squadrons , 32º and 36º Stormo, which at that time were deployed from Decimomannu against the British Royal Navy with torpedo bombers of the types Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 and SM.84 . Among other things, the squadron commodore of the 36th squadron, Riccardo Hellmuth Seidl , and his successor Giovanni Farina fell. His squadron was later named after Seidl, and the Decimomannu military airfield after Farina. In the course of time, other units and associations with pilots such as Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia and Martino Aichner also operated from Decimomannu .

In the first six months of 1943, the German Air Force stationed parts of Lehrgeschwader 1 and Kampfgeschwader 1 , 26 , 30 and 54 in Decimomannu . These squadrons had their focus on naval warfare, sometimes with air torpedoes.

After the armistice of Cassibile , the Americans took over the airfield on September 22, 1943 and stationed there first the 325th Fighter Group on Curtiss P-40 , then Martin B-26 of the 319th and 320th Bomber Groups. From October 14, 1943, they expanded the airfield, which eventually comprised six parallel runways. The simultaneous take-offs or landings of six bombers at a time soon became known as the "Flying Circus of Colonel Randy". On September 21, 1944, with the relocation of the US bombers to Corsica, flight operations in Decimomannu ended and the airfield deteriorated over the next ten years.

Flightline in Decimomannu

In the post-war period, NATO air forces in Europe were soon looking for airfields that would enable their fighter pilots to exercise their fighter pilots as realistic as possible away from the Iron Curtain in a climatically advantageous location. The choice finally fell on Decimomannu in sparsely populated Sardinia, on whose west coast there was almost no civil air traffic. The airfield was supposed to be a naval aviation base . From the end of 1954 it was practically rebuilt according to NATO standards at the time and converted into an Air Weapons Training Installation (AWTI). At the same time, the Italian Air Force acquired the Capo Frasca peninsula and turned it into an air-to-ground firing range. In March 1957 she set up her training command in Decimomannu, which was followed by the Royal Canadian Air Force the following month . On December 16, 1959, Italy, Canada and the Federal Republic of Germany signed an agreement regulating the joint use and operation of the airfield and the associated facilities. In 1960 the "German Air Force Training Command Italy" was set up, which in 1983 was renamed " Tactical Training Command of the Air Force Italy ". On September 24, 1960, Bundeswehr combat aircraft , F-84F , landed in Decimomannu for the first time. In the course of time various other NATO partners also used the airfield, especially the United States Air Forces in Europe (4th Detachment, 40th Tactical Group, Aviano ), which temporarily deployed the 527th Aggressor Squadron , and the British Royal Air Force . The latter set up a training command in Decimomannu in 1970 and replaced that of the Canadian Armed Forces, which left Decimomannu in July of that year. In 1973 the “Domus Dei” was inaugurated in Decimomannu, the first and to this day only ecumenical military church in Italy. With American support, the first Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation was activated at the beginning of 1979 , a system with which simulated combat operations could also be followed from the airfield, recorded and then analyzed together with the pilots. In 2002 this was replaced by the more modern German-Italian-Israeli Autonomous Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation .

F-16 of the US Air Force and MiG-29 of the German armed forces in 1995 over the southwest coast of Sardinia

Decimomannu was one of the most active NATO military airfields during the Cold War, with around 60,000 aircraft movements annually. To simplify and accelerate aircraft refueling , a hydrant refueling system with connections to 51 aircraft parking spaces was put into operation in 1986 . The apron was also expanded and the runway was renovated at this time. Between 1985 and 1986, Decimomannu took over civil traffic at Cagliari Airport for a few months, whose runway also had to be overhauled.

In 1991 MiG-29s landed in Decimomannu for the first time . These were specimens that the Bundeswehr had taken over from the GDR's National People's Army . The machines were not only popular training partners in Decimomannu. From the 1990s on, the airfield became a little quieter. After the Americans closed their training unit in Decimomannu, the British left in 1998. Despite the less intensive use of the airfield and the aforementioned training rooms, the regional government of Sardinia repeatedly called for a reduction in the number of restricted military areas and exercises on the island. The German Air Force terminated the user agreement at the end of 2016, in particular because of the further restricted exercise options at the Capo Frasca air-to-ground firing range and the related cost-benefit issue.

Web links

Commons : Decimomannu Air Base - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

[1] Air Force says goodbye to "Deci". Flugrevue.de, March 2, 2016

[2] Henry L. deZeng IV: Air Force Airfields 1935-45 Italy, Sicily and Sardinia , pp 68-70 , accessed October 11, 2015.

[3] Poligoni militari, Pigliaru: "Capo Frasca si può chiudere". La Nuova Sardegna, September 9, 2014

[4] End of an era: The Air Force says goodbye to "Deci". luftwaffe.de, March 2, 2016