Friday 8 December 2023 the attendees and staff of the 300th session of naval command school, on board patrol boats Sirio e Spica of the fourth naval division, entered the port of Livorno.
Stops in national or foreign springs are an integral part of the program of all command school sessions, and have the aim of familiarizing future commanders and crews with ports other than the Augusta roadstead, the historical headquarters of the command school, and of teaching the frequenters the notions of naval etiquette and naval diplomacy normally applied whenever a naval unit enters a non-military port.
During the stop in the port, meetings took place with the commander of the maritime direction of Livorno, rear admiral (CP) Gaetano Angora and, subsequently, with the mayor of the city, Dr. Luca Salvetti, who accepted the invitation to go on board the ship Sirio to visit the ship and meet the staff and the 12 attendees of the 300th session of the command school.
During the meetings, the director of the command school and commander of the fourth naval division, rear admiral Alberto Tarabotto, underlined the deep bond between the Navy and the city of Livorno, an industrial port of primary importance for the country and home of the Naval Academy .
Right at the historic training institute for Navy officers, the attending lieutenants, after a meeting with the commander of the institute, Rear Admiral Lorenzano Di Renzo, held a conference for the students.
The attendees, who returned to their alma mater after the first years of operational employment, illustrated their career path to the students, highlighting how regardless of the different specializations that embrace all components of the armed force, the link with the maritime environment and naval is the true trait d'union for all naval officers.
“Returning to the Academy is a bit like coming home – says Lieutenant Riccardo Lenti – and every time I returned, in 2019 as a subordinate to the Spartans course and today as an attendee of the 300th session of the naval command school, I was able to appreciate how the maturity achieved during my assignments on board made me more aware of the "importance of this institution and the responsibility that each of us has in trying to provide students with as much information and knowledge as possible, so that they are ready to face the arduous and exciting challenges that the future has in store for them."
At the end of the meeting, Admiral Tarabotto greeted the student brigade, underlining the intention to make the stop in Livorno of the naval units of the command school an annual event, in order to allow the students to interact with the attending officers and to embark on the units engaged in this fundamental training moment. This will bring further and deeper collaboration between two of the Navy's most important training entities.
