Personnel recovery centre to be based in Italy

A step forward in the development of the European Personnel Recovery Centre (EPRC) was made on 27 January when General Pasquale Preziosa, the chief of staff of the Italian Air Force, signed a Technical Arrangement on establishing a permanent centre at Poggio Renatico Air Base, northeast of Bologna, Italy.

An initiative of the European Air Group (EAG), the EPRC has had a temporary home at the Royal Air Force’s base in High Wycombe, UK. The new centre in Italy is due to be inaugurated on 8 July 2015, and facilitate training and knowledge-sharing on personnel recovery (including recovery of civilians as well as combat search and rescue) between members of European air forces. The EPRC will also be able to support real-life rescues by dispatching trained personnel to co-ordinate or carry out missions. The Centre will be governed by a steering committee composed of representatives of participating nations.

The EAG is an association that comprises the Air Forces of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The Group undertakes projects and studies in order to identify ways to improve interoperability between member nations.