Spring Flag is the biggest and principal annual exercise organized by the Italian Air Force on national territory. Usually, Decimomannu ("Deci") plays host to the majority of the participants, so 3Greens.nl spent two days on this base to witness the operations.

During the 2008 edition, the main theatre was located over the big isles in the Mediterranean Sea: Sardinia, Sicily and Corsica. Besides the participation of national and international armed forces, other institutions involved in the security branch (e.g. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Red Cross) were playing a role in this exercise as well.

As mentioned above, the majority of the aircraft was temporarily based at Decimomannu Air Base (close to Cagliari, in the Southeast part of Sardinia). Other participants were flying from Alghero Airport (in the Northwest tip of Sardinia), Trapani and Sigonella (both on the isle of Sicily) and Evreux (France).

Almost eighty aircraft from eight different nations took part in Spring Flag. Another nine countries sent observers, some of which might take part in future editions.

The big exception in this division was the combat search and rescue (CSAR) element. These missions were flown at any time of the day, although mostly under the cover of darkness. Page 1 - Introduction Page 2 - Scenario Page 3 - Participants
© 2008 3Greens.nl