US and Italian Airforce, joint-training in Kuwait

The United States Air Force and the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force) held a joint training session in the skies over Kuwait on Monday 30 December. The objective of the training session was to plan and execute a Close Air Support (CAS) mission and involved personnel from both countries in a training simulation that consisted of two phases: in the first phase, Italian military air assets used state-of-the-art technology to escort a convoy and monitor the area for asymmetric threats; in the second phase, Italian air assets provided close support to ground forces tasked with capturing a local High Valuable Individual (HVI). At the end of the training, Colonel Matteo Zuliani praised the personnel of both countries and stressed the importance of communication and seamless integration between Italian and allied assets in the fight against terrorism. Col. Matteo Zuliani is the Commander of the Italian National Contingent Command Air (IT NCC AIR) – Task Force Air Kuwait, an Italian Air Force contingent deployed in Kuwait. The task force has been involved in various operations since 2014, participating in the multinational coalition against ISIS in Operation Prima Parthica/Inherent Resolve.