Colonel Vito Cracas

Colonel Cracas joined the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) in Sept, 1988 and studied at the Italian Air Force Academy from 1988 to 1992. After earning his Military Pilot License at the Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) of Sheppard AFB, Texas (USA), he was assigned to the F104 “Starfighter” as an Air Defence Pilot of the XII (F) Sqn of the 36th Fighter Wing at Gioia del Colle, in southern Italy from 1993 to 1995. In 1995 his unit transitioned to the Tornado F3 ADV, and Col. Cracas flew as Air Defence Pilot in the ITAF participating to operation Allied Force over Kosovo in 1999. He also flew the Tornado F3 with the RAF as an Exchange Pilot with the 111(F) Sqn in RAF Leuchars (Scotland, UK), from 1999 to 2004, including deployments to the Falklands Islands for QRA duties. In 2006 he was assigned to the Eurofighter Typhoon, flying the first Typhoon to Gioia del Colle airbase while commanding XII (F) Sqn in 2007. After graduating at the Italian Joint Staff College in 2009, he was assigned to the ITAF HQ as Eurofighter Typhoon Programme Manager from 2009 until 2012. In 2010 he participated in ISAF Operation in Afghanistan as Deputy Chief of Staff for Stability within the Regional Command West in Herat, and was decorated with a Bronze Medal for Aeronautical Merit for effectively alleviating the poor conditions of women and children in Afghanistan, helping the local government boost regional economic development. He was appointed the Airbase Commander of the 36th Fighter Wing at Gioia del Colle from 2012 to 2014, and in 2015 he commanded the ITAF Task Force Air Siauliai in Lithuania, within the NATO Baltic QRA and Air Policing Operations. He served twice at Fighter Forces Command as the Head of Office for Training and Standardization from 2015 to 2017 and from 2021 to 2024. In between those tours, Col Cracas was the Italian Defence Attaché in Kuwait from 2018 to 2021. Col. Cracas has also been the Director of many multi-domain flying exercises, such as Vega 2021, Falcon Strike 2022, NATO Tiger Meet 2023. Before being appointed as Assistant Director of the JAPCC, Kalkar from the Summer of 2024, he has been the Commander of the Autonomous ITAF Flying Wing Red Flag Alaska 24-1 in Eielson AFB, Alaska (USA) in April-May 2024