Colonel Vito Cracas joined the Italian Air Force Academy in 1988. He earned his wings in 1993 at the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training school in Texas. Colonel Cracas flew F104G and F104S / ASA aircraft with the XII (F) Sqn of the 36th Fighter Wing in Gioia del Colle, Italy, and later transitioned to Tornado ADV F3s after training at RAF Coningsby, England.

He served as a Combat Ready Pilot and Formation Leader until 1999, then joined 111 (F) Sqn at RAF Leuchars as an Instructor Pilot, participating in international exercises like Maple Flag, Pitch Black, and Red Flag. Returning to Italy in 2004, Colonel Cracas transitioned to the Eurofighter Typhoon, commanding the XII (F) Sqn from 2007.

After staff college in Rome, he became the Eurofighter Programme Manager at the Italian Air Force Staff HQ. In 2010, he served in Afghanistan, earning a Bronze Medal for Aeronautical Merit. He then commanded the Gioia del Colle airbase and 36th Fighter Wing from 2012–2014, contributing to NATO QRA(I) operations and the first Italian Detachment to Iceland.

Colonel Cracas held various leadership roles, including Head of Office for Air Defence Units and Commander of the Italian Air Force Task Force Air in Lithuania. In 2017, he became the Italian Air Force Representative and Defence Attaché in Kuwait. Before he assumed the role of the JAPCC’s Assistant Director, he oversaw Training, Standardization, and Operational Coordination for all Italian Air Force Fighter Units and commanded the Italian Autonomous Fighter Unit at Red Flag Alaska 24-1.