The 102nd Group "Giuseppe Cenni" (whose pilots are nicknamed, traditionally, Paperi) is an Italian Air Force unit flying Panavia Tornados and has two assignments: one operational from conventional all-weather fighter-bombers (CBOC) and one as operational training of Tornado pilots (OCU).
The 102nd Group was established during World War II, on May 1, 1942, at the Promise Field in Lonate Pozzolo, under the command of Maj. Pil. Giuseppe Cenni (Gold Medal for Military Valor) and by the idea of Gen. Tedeschini Lalli. The General's will was to create the best group for the diving specialty: not by chance it was formed from the 239th Autonomous Diving Squadron - of Commander Cenni - and which had obtained the best results in the specialty since 1940. The 102nd Group would be the backbone of the 5th Diving Wing, one of the few Stormi decorated with the Gold Medal for Military Valor. Emblematic was the summer of 1943, when the pilots of the 102nd Group tried to thwart the Allied invasion of first Sicily and then Calabria on several unescorted missions, losing as many as two Wing commanders and dozens of pilots in a few weeks. In its history, the Group has never been closed and has always participated in all missions of the Italian Air Force, maintaining very high standards and a high esprit de corps given by the charisma of the first Commander and the famous motto "Waltz!" that have united the various G