The 14° Stormo (Wing) is named after Lieutenant Pilot Sergio Sartoff, Gold Medal for Military Valor. Sartoff was born in Roma on November 4, 1913. During an attack on British mechanized forces, he dies in the airborne explosion of his S.79 attacked by Royal Air Force fighters. The young life was broken in the sky of North Africa on December 9, 1940 while serving in the 14° Stormo Bombardieri Terrestre (Land Bomber Wing) 45° Gruppo (Squadron) - 22ª Squadriglia (Flight).
The 14° Stormo is located at the air base of Pratica di Mare, the Unit shares the airport of the largest Italian air base with other units of the Aeronautica Militare (Italian Air Force), these are: the Reparto Sperimentale di Volo (RSV or Experimental Flight Department), the 6° Reparto Manutenzione Elicotteri (RME or Helicopter Engineering Department) and the 85° Gruppo Combat Search and Rescue Group (CSAR).
It depends on the operational, technical and personnel management aspects of the Comando delle Forze per la Mobilità e il Supporto (Command of Forces for Mobility and Support) headquartered in Roma.
While the logistical aspects of the air base are based on the local Comando Aeroporto (Airport Command), the latter was created on 14 June 2006 at the same time as the closure of the 9ª Brigata Aerea (Air Brigade) "Leone".
The Stormo has two Gruppi Volo (Flying Squadrons), the 81° Gruppo and the 71° Gruppo, an Gruppo Efficienza Aeromobili (GEA or Aircraft Efficiency Squadron) as a maintenance department and a Centro Addestramento Equipaggi (CAE or Crew Training Center).
The Unit boasts a peculiarity that few others in Italy have had, in the course of its existence, post second constitution, have been assigned countless tasks, missions obviously carried out by the dependent flight departments, let’s see if we can list them all: Flight Inspection, Transport, Health Transport, Liaison, Electronic Warfare, Aerial photography, Air to Air refueling, ComInt (Communication Intelligence) and Elint (Electronic Signals Intellingence), as can be noted in some cases, the roles are very different as a mission type. Over the years for some of these there have been temporary suspensions of operations, due to a lack of specific carriers, an emblematic case is the refueling in flight; after the radiation of the B 707TT it was possible to reactivate it only with the arrival of the new KC 767A, the same speech for the Flight Inspection, carried out up to the radiation of the G 222RM and now resumed with the P 180 Avanti I.
Unfortunately, for some roles there is the serious possibility that it is lost forever, one of these is Aerial photography, to date after the radiation of P 166DL3 there is nothing significant planned. Apart from the roles GE (Electronic War) and Sigint/Elint (Signal Intelligence/Eletronic Intelligence), the first role was abandoned with the withdrawal from service of the PD 808GE, the second is closing by the end of 2012 due to the withdrawal from service of the only G 222VS. Over the last few months, industrial information has appeared on some specialized sites and agencies indicating the existence of program for the acquisition and/or leasing of new aircraft, namely C 27J and Gulfstream G 550, but unfortunately at the moment there is not enough information to understand what capabilities the new carriers will have and especially if the technologies that will be acquired will still guarantee both services.
Today’s tasks of the Stormo are clearly indicated and delegated in an equal way at the two Gruppi Volo, Air to Air refueling and Transport (tactical) for the 8° Gruppo with the KC 767A, Transport (sanitary and liasion) and Flight Inspections 71° Gruppo with its P 180 Avanti I, we will be able to deepen very well tasks and roles in dedicated pages.
A further peculiarity of the 14° Stormo is represented by the fact that the unit, through the 8° Gruppo, holds online the last two G 222 operational in charge of the Aeronautica Militare, a G 222TCA (14-11 MM62146) and a G 222VS (MM62107), both aircraft are due to be phased out by the end of 2012; as for the TCA there will be no operational repercussions as the tactical transport is largely guaranteed by the 46ª Brigata Aerea, for the VS is worth the previous speech, we have to wait for the evolution of the programs "work in progress". One thing is certain, however, with the radiation of the "Panda" or "Gigio", as it is affectionately called in Italy, an important slice of Italian aviation history will be lost.
The 14° Stormo as a structure is much more streamlined than the joint departments because it does not use the squadrons Gruppo Servizi Tecnici Operativi (GSTO or Technical Operational Services Squadron) and Gruppo Servizi Logistici Operativi (GSLO or Operational Logistics Services Squadron) as tasks entrusted to the Comando Aeroporto, in our case, the Stormo Commander has a Command Office, a Flight Security Office and an Operations Office.
To close the circle on the services in charge of the 14° Stormo we have the Centro Addestramento Equipaggi, which trains the crews of the Stormo on all aircraft equipped, carrying out the 1st and 2nd training phase, also establishing operational standards and proposing variations to the training profiles performed at Gruppi Volo.
Before continuing we wanted to provide some hints on the important air base of Pratica di Mare, the airport is named after Colonel Pilot Mario De Bernardi, Gold Medal for Military Valor, Ace of World War I and first test pilot of a jet aircraft in Italy (1940). The air base is located in the municipality of Pomezia, 30 km south of Roma.
The airport was established in 1937 on the estate of Campo Ascolano and classified as a training camp, in 1942 it became an Scuola Strumentale di Volo (Instrumental Flight School).
During the Second World War it was the scene of important historical events, one of the most symbolic the passage of Mussolini after his liberation from Campo Imperatore.
After the war, fifties, it was the headquarters of the 4ª Aerobrigata Intercettori (Interceptor Air Brigade) "Francesco Baracca" equipped with fighter F 86E "Sabre". In 1957 it was chosen as the permanent home of Reparto Sperimentale di Volo. The air base hosts in addition to the departments listed before AM, also other flight components of other armed forces, Guardia di Finanza (Italian Custom Police), Polizia di Stato (State Police), Marina Militare (Italian Navy) and Carabinieri (Italian Military Police).

Commander
The current Commander of the 14° Stormo is Colonel Andrea Viperini, born in Roma on 29 July 1967, comes from the regular courses of the Accademia Aeronautica (Air Academy) where he attended the Corso Normale "Falco IV" from 1986 to 1990.
In 1990 he obtained the Brevetto Pilota Militare (BPM or Military Pilot License) at the 61ª Brigata Aerea of Lecce on MB 339A aircraft.
After completing the training process, he was assigned to the 2° Gruppo of the 46ª Brigata Aerea of Pisa, as pilot of C 130H.
During his stay in Pisa (1990-1996) Viperini fulfilled the duties of Commander of the 105ª and 103ª Squadriglie included in the 2° Gruppo, and of Chief Training Unit of the 2° Gruppo.
From 1998 to 2001 he was assigned to the RAMI Rappresentanza Aeronautica Militare italiana (Italian Air Force Representation) in Geilenkirchen (Germany) as pilot of aircraft E 3A (1998-2000) and as chief pilot on the E 3A.
In 2002, after the experience on the AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) arrives at the 14° Stormo di Pratica di Mare with the following tasks:
-Head of the Planning and Operations Section of the Operations Office of the 14° Stormo
-Head of the Operations Section of the 8° Gruppo Radiomisure
-Head of the Operations Section of the 71° Gruppo.
-Commander of the 71° Gruppo
-Head of Operations of the 14° Stormo
In 2005 the operational assignments at Pratica di Mare ended, from 2006 until 14 September 2010 the employment is instead at DIPMA (Direzione per l’Impiego del Personale Militare dell’Aeronautica or Directorate for the Employment of Air Force Military Personnel) at Palazzo Aeronautica (Stato Maggiore Aeronautica or Air Force Staff).
Colonel Viperini has about 3,100 flight hours, of which about 1,500 on G 222 aircraft and about 1,200 on E 3A/B 707 aircraft, among which there are real operational activities in Somalia and the Balkans.
In addition to the Normal courses of the Scuola di Guerra Aerea (School of Air War) he attended several courses:
-Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Corse course
-NATO First Pilot
-E 3A Chief Crew
-E 3A Instructor
-Command Course
-ISSMI Course
In addition to being a Graduate in Aeronautical Science Viperini has been awarded the following honors:
-Golden Cross for 25 years of military service
-Cavaliere OMRI
-NATO and national medals for operations in the former Yugoslavia and Kosovo
-Gold Medal for Long Air Navigation in the Aeronautica Militare
-Memorial Cross for Operations in Somalia
Certificate of Public Merit (Civil Protection) 3^rd Class 1^st Group

History
On the 14° Stormo Misto (Mixed Wing) was established on the airport of Ferrara on January 15, 1927, the assigned Gruppi Volo were the 27° Gruppo Bombardieri Notturni (Night Bomber Squadron) with an endowment of Caproni Ca.2 and Ca.73, and the 44° Gruppo Bombardieri Diurno (Day Bomber Squadron) equipped with Fiat B.R. and B.R.1, since May 1929 also with B.R.2.
While the 27° Gruppo is transferred to the 8° Stormo, at the same time the 45° Gruppo is formed and placed under the 14° Stormo.
From December 31, 1935 to October 1, 1936, the 14° Stormo is engaged in East Africa, the Gruppi assigned for this demanding task were the 44° and the newly acquired 4° and 49° Gruppo; the aircraft used were the Caproni Ca.101 and Ca.133, unfortunately at the end of the operating cycle the Unit dissolved, at the same time as the 1st of September 1935 in Italy begins operations on 14° Stormo Bis, the units assigned were 44° and 56° Gruppo Bis, at the beginning of 1936 returning, after the operating cycle, Gorizia is assigned the original name to the Unit.
In November 1936, the 14° Stormo was transferred back to Africa, this time to the north, where, with the new Savoia Marchetti S.81 and S.79, it worked actively throughout the Second World War. Due to the heavy losses of men and vehicles, the Unit was dissolved on January 15, 1942.
The reconstitution of the 14° Stormo contemporary took place on June 1, 1976 on the air base of Pratica di Mare, the assigned units are the 8° Gruppo and the 71° Gruppo, arrangement that will remain unchanged to this day.
A fundamental passage of the Stormo takes place in March 1992 with the arrival of the first B 707T/T (Tanker/Transport), three more will arrive to the Unit in rapid succession, once the fleet is completed the projection capabilities of the Aeronautica Militare are profoundly changed.
With the arrival of the Boeing four engines the Stormo takes part in major international operations, in Bosnia, Albania, Zaire, Somalia, East Timor, Kosovo, Afghanistan (Enduring Freedom and ISAF) and in Iraq (Ancient Babylon).
In 2011, with the official arrival of the first KC 767A, the Stormo regains a capacity that places it fully among the most important and active units of the Armed Force.
To conclude the part dedicated to the 14° we cannot fail to mention that the War Flag of the Unit has been awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valor for the operations carried out on the skies of the Mediterranean, Egypt and Marmarica.