At the "Vitrani" Barracks, headquarters of the Command Department and Tactical Support of the brigade "Pinerolo", in the presence of the commander of the command of the southern operational forces, general of corps Luigi Luigi De Leverano, and of the highest civil, military and religious authorities of Bari and Province, took place the ceremony of change of command of the "Pinerolo" brigade between Brigadier General Gianpaolo Mirra, a transferor, and the rank of Francesco Bruno, successor.
General Mirra left the command of the prestigious unit after two years of intense training and operational activity carried out both at home and outside the national territory.
The brigade, under his leadership, was engaged in the period May - December 2016 in Afghanistan where he led the "Train Advise Assist Command West" (TAAC-W), the NATO command based in Herat. For the commitment made in this period, for the excellent results achieved in consolidating and implementing the new operational concept, no longer focused on the combat function, but essentially based on the support and training of the Afghan Armed Forces and the successes gathered in the field of military civil cooperation the Supreme Command of the Allied Forces in Europe, which has its headquarters in Shape in Belgium, has attributed to the brigade "Pinerolo" the important honor "Allied Command Operations Campaign Pennat".
The award, given for the first time to an Italian brigade, was given by the general of the army corps Luciano Portolano, chief of staff of the NATO command of Naples (JFC).
At the same time, the "Pinerolo" brigade has sent its units to other operating theaters such as Iraq, Somalia, Lebanon and Latvia and has continued the implementation of the Army digitalization program which sees the large Army Unit as the first brigade to join and develop on the field the project "Forza NEC", an ambitious and extraordinarily innovative project, which constitutes the spearhead of the entire program of modernization of the Earth defense component.
In his homeland he continued to participate in the "Safe Roads" operation, working alongside the police in the fight to prevent organized and environmental crime by deploying military personnel up to 1200.
Over the past two years, the genius component of the brigade has continued with the remediation of war surpluses dating back to the 2 World War II in the Lower Adriatic area comprising Puglia, Basilicata, Molise, Calabria and Abruzzo. . The genius regiment also operated in the snow emergency in Puglia, Abruzzo and Molise, also in the Rigopiano area. Intense and constant was the training of "Pinerolo" personnel aimed at guaranteeing full operational capability and readiness for use in the times and places where the government authority decides to send the large unit.
General Mirra leaves the command to hold a prestigious position in the central organs in Rome.
