Gianmarco Bellini (born 15 September 1958) is an
Italian Air Force
The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...
officer who served with
U.N. Coalition forces and was a
prisoner of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
during the
First Gulf War.
Career
Bellini enlisted in the
Italian Air Force
The Italian Air Force (; AM, ) is the air force of the Italy, Italian Republic. The Italian Air Force was founded as an independent service arm on 28 March 1923 by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, King Victor Emmanuel III as the ("Royal Air Force ...
in 1977 and attended the Italian
Accademia Aeronautica
The Accademia Aeronautica is the Italian Air Force Academy, the institute for the training of Air Force officers. It's located in Pozzuoli in the province of Naples, in the Italy, Italian region of Campania. Among the oldest aviation academie ...
(Air Force Academy). He was then trained as a pilot at
Laughlin Air Force Base
Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located east of Del Rio, Texas.
Overview
Laughlin AFB, the largest Aviator, pilot training base in the US Air Force, is home to the 47th Flying Training Wing of the Air Educa ...
in the United States. He has a degree in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
from the
Federico II University in
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, and a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in strategic studies from the
Air War College
The Air War College (AWC) is the senior Professional Military Education (PME) school of the U.S. Air Force. A part of the United States Air Force's Air University (United States Air Force), Air University, AWC emphasizes the employment of air, ...
at
Air University, based at
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. ...
in
Alabama
Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
Gulf War
On the eve of the
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
the Italian government deployed eight
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
Fighter-bombers on the
Gulf
A gulf is a large inlet from an ocean or their seas into a landmass, larger and typically (though not always) with a narrower opening than a bay (geography), bay. The term was used traditionally for large, highly indented navigable bodies of s ...
Theatre of Operations. On 16 January 1991, coalition forces began concentrated
air strike
An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and Unmanned combat aerial ...
s on
Iraqi military targets in
Iraq
Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and
Kuwait
Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...
.
On 18 January 1991, an Italian
Tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
piloted by Major Gianmarco Bellini with Captain
Maurizio Cocciolone as his
navigator
A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...
took off as part of a multi-national 48 planes squadron. Bellini and Cocciolone were the only members of the flight able to execute
in-flight refuelling, while the other 47 aircraft failed and had to abort the mission. The mission profile dictated that the operation could be performed even by a single plane, so Bellini and Cocciolone went on. Right after dropping five bombs on the target at high speed and low altitude (thanks to the terrain following radar), they dropped the external fuel tanks to get out of the area as soon as possible, but their plane was hit by Iraqi
anti aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...
fire. In an interview, Bellini said that multiple ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" locked them with the radar, and one shot hit the right rolleron and tore away almost 60% of the area. This caused at first an uncontrolled roll of one spin per second, then the pilot managed to reduce that to one speed every three seconds, but they were already close to the ground, and they had to eject. In that interview, Bellini said that when he ejected the plane was at 30 ft from the ground. They were captured by the
Iraqi Republican Guard, even though their status was unknown at the time.
While Cocciolone was shown on Iraqi
television
Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
on 20 January 1991, in a propaganda video, no news of Bellini was given initially, and he was feared to be a casualty. The two were kept separate for the whole time of their captivity. On 3 March 1991, both officers were released. Bellini holds numerous military decorations including the Silver Medal for Military Valor for his actions during the Operation Desert Storm.
Bellini and Cocciolone were the only Italian
Prisoners of War
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
of the entire war.
Later career
Bellini was appointed commanding officer of the
Ghedi
Ghedi (Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on November 24, 2001.
Ghedi is known for a base of the Italian Air Force, Ghedi Air Base ...
air base in 2001.
In 2023 Gianmarco Bellini became the subject of the award-winning short documentary
Gianmarco Bellini: Gulf War POW' directed by Italian filmmaker Maria Luisa Forenza and produced by filmmaker
Daniel L. Bernardi.
References
External links
Gianmarco Bellini recounts his history
Gianmarco Bellini gets interviewe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellini, Gianmarco
Living people
1958 births
Italian Air Force personnel
Italian aviators
Gulf War prisoners of war
Military personnel of the Gulf War
Italian prisoners of war
Shot-down aviators
Prisoners of war held by Iraq
Italian people imprisoned in Iraq