The individual swearing-in ceremony of 6 officers belonging to the 51st application course, normal role and special role took place on Tuesday 21 February in the Theater Room of the Air Force Academy of Pozzuoli.
The young lieutenants (12 from the normal role of the aeronautical engineers and 2 from the normal role of the aeronautical medical corps) and the 37 second lieutenants (28 from the special role of the Air Force, 4 from the special role of the aeronautical engineers and 4 from the special role of the police station) swore loyalty to the Italian Republic in an individual form, in front of the Flag of the Institute and in the presence of the commander of the Air Force Academy, general of the air division Luigi Casali and of the commander of the Courses, colonel Antonio Corrado.
The family members of the young jurands and a representation of the permanent cadre also participated in the ceremony.
During his speech, General Casali, after highlighting the excellent results achieved by the young officers, gave particular emphasis to the meaning of today's ceremony: “A pact of honor that commits us to respecting a series of new duties that characterize the military status. Duties that must inspire and guide our daily work and the challenges of the future, always at the service of our country, even in complex international scenarios. Excellence, Respect, Exemplary, Dedication, Integrity moral: these are the characteristics collected in the acronym HEIR at the basis of our daily work in the Academy, but which must also be the basis of our daily work within the great Blue Team which, with passion, competence and determination, carries out its mission at the service of the country. I am sure that you will be able to integrate quickly and completely within the large family of the Air Force, an Armed Force rich in traditions and values, which has grown in this century using increasingly technologically advanced systems and which competently faces new domains: from space understood as a natural extension of the aerial dimension to the cyber world".
In concluding his speech, the general underlined the importance of the 2 mottos chosen directly by those attending the normal role and the special role: Through knowledge towards the stars and Character determines the destiny of man. “You have touched on two fundamental themes for being competent, motivated and professionally prepared officers. On the one hand, knowledge as an indispensable basis for achieving significant objectives and on the other, character as an indispensable element for overcoming moments of difficulty and accepting the challenges that the world presents to us. Officers of the 21st normal role and special role application course, be guided and inspired by the mottos you have chosen, be honored by the uniform you wear. Be proud of the country you will serve!”.
The normal role and special role application course is made up of two phases: the first, defined as "military" and carried out by all those attending, has the aim of providing basic military preparation, providing transversal subjects such as command tasks and functions, organization of Defense and the Air Force, military logistics, communication techniques.
The second phase, called "professional", will take place in the Armed Forces departments, based on the assigned category. Among the latter, for normal role aeronautical engineering lieutenants only, also Space and Cyber, categories aimed at consolidating the Armed Forces' skills in these emerging domains.
As per tradition, the application course has been assigned a name, the initial of which is agreed with the youngest regular course upon incorporation: "Hermes" identifies the normal role, "Demon", the special role.
The Air Force Academy is under the command of the Air Force/3rd Air Region Schools. It is a military institute of higher education of a university nature which has the task of providing for the recruitment and training of young people who aspire to become officers of the Air Force. By attending the regular courses of the Academy you can become a second lieutenant in permanent active service of the Air Force, in the normal role of navigators (pilots) and in the normal role of the Arms, of the aeronautical engineers, of the aeronautical commissary corps and of the aeronautical medical corps. Courses are also held at the Institute for officer students (pilots and navigators of complement and fixed station) and directly appointed second lieutenants (both of the normal role and of the special role); finally, in the Academy's study plan, courses with a specialist aeronautical connotation are foreseen, for foreign personnel and other Armed Forces.
