The Signature
6
HOST AND PARTNER:
An Interview with the Col. Gianluca Chiriatti, Sigonella Airport Commander and 41st Wing of the Italian Air Force By Janine Scianna
NAS Sigonella Public Affairs
Living overseas, and especially on an island, it can be easy to get tunnel vision. You get into your daily routine, go to work, and then come home. Rinse and repeat the next day. But if you take a moment to step back, a picture of the intricate network of functions, commands, and partnerships at Sigonella comes into focus. The “Hub of the Med” requires an impressive number of organizations and roles to effectively carry out the installation’s multiple missions. NAS Sigonella has a dizzying array of tenant commands from all service branches except the Coast Guard—36 to be exact—but it definitely doesn’t end there. NAS Sigonella itself is actually a tenant of the larger Sigonella Italian Air Base, from which the U.S. military leases land according to our governments’ agreement. Col.
Gianluca Chiriatti wears two hats as both the commander of the Sigonella airport and commander of the 41st Wing of the Italian Air Force. In addition, he coordinates the activities of all tenant commands on the base as well as the building up the NATO AGS presence with detachments from Spain, Poland, Luxemburg, and EU Naval Forces Mediterranean Operation Sophia. Chiriatti recently sat down with NAS Sigonella Public Affairs staff to explain the opportunities and challenges of his position. Chiriatti, much like the NAS Sigonella commanding officer, has had a long and accomplished aviation career flying jets. And like the American side of the base, there are separate chains of command that handle operations—the 41st Stormo conducts missions in partnership with the Italian Navy—whereas the
Photo courtesy Sigonella Air Base Public Affairs
installation itself is under the purview of the Italian Air Force. In addition to the 41st Wing, which primarily conducts maritime patrols with P-72A aircraft, Sigonella is also home to other tenant commands of the Air Force. These include the 61st Wing, which flies the remotely-piloted Predator aircraft as well as a maintenance division for large transport aircraft. Italian Navy detachments and an operational Carabinieri unit round out the Italian units present on Sigonella. In addition to managing the installation, as commander of the Sigonella airport, he also oversees air traffic control not only for the military terminal, but also for all of eastern Sicily’s skies to include Catania flights. When any aircraft, military or civilian, enters this airspace, it is Chiriatti’s air traffic controllers who direct landings and takeoffs at Catania, Janine Scianna
Ufficio Pubblica Informazione NAS Sigonella
Quando si vive all’estero, e specialmente su un’isola, ci si può facilmente trovare incatenato in uno stato di chiusura mentale. Si vive una routine quotidiana, si va al lavoro e poi si torna a casa. Ogni giorno sempre lo stesso. Ma se ci si sofferma un attimo per fare un passo indietro, ci si rende conto della complessa rete di funzioni, comandi e partnership di Sigonella. “Il Centro Nevralgico del Mediterraneo” necessita di un numero impressionante di organizzazioni e ruoli per svolgere efficacemente le molteplici missioni dell’installazione. La Stazione Aeronavale della Marina
