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Maurizio Cocciolone
Maurizio Cocciolone (born 22 September 1960 in L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy) is an Italian Air Force officer, who served with UN Coalition forces and was a prisoner of war during the Gulf War. He was born in L'Aquila, Abruzzo. On the eve of the Operation Desert Storm the Italian government deployed eight Tornado Fighter-bombers on the Gulf Theatre of Operations. On January 16, 1991, coalition forces began concentrated air strikes on Iraqi military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. On January 18, 1991, an Italian Tornado, piloted by Major Gianmarco Bellini, with Captain Maurizio Cocciolone as his navigator, took off as part of a multi national 48 planes squadron. Bellini and Cocciolone were the only members of the squadron able to execute in-flight refueling, while the other 47 aircraft failed and had to abort. The mission profile dictated that the operation could be performed even by a single plane, so Bellini and Cocciolone went on. Their plane was hit by Iraqi anti aircraft fire an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gianmarco Bellini
Gianmarco Bellini (born September 15, 1958) is an Italian Air Force officer who served with U.N. Coalition forces and was a prisoner of war during the First Gulf War. Career Bellini enlisted in the Italian Air Force in 1977 and attended the Italian Accademia Aeronautica (Air Force Academy). He was then trained as a pilot at Laughlin Air Force Base in the United States. He has a degree in political science from the Federico II University in Naples, and a master's degree in strategic studies from the Air War College at Air University, based at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, United States. Gulf War On the eve of the Operation Desert Storm the Italian government deployed eight Tornado Fighter-bombers on the Gulf Theatre of Operations. On January 16, 1991, coalition forces began concentrated air strikes on Iraqi military targets in Iraq and Kuwait. On January 18, 1991, an Italian Tornado piloted by Major Gianmarco Bellini with Captain Maurizio Cocciolone as his navigator ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
