In the presence of the Chief of Defense Staff, General Claudio Graziano, the Army Chief of Staff, General Salvatore Farina and the Commander of the Alpine Troops, Army Corps General Claudio Berto, today in the mountain area of the same name - the heart of the Belluno Dolomites and a World Heritage Site - the 5 Torri 2018 exercise which, together with the Alpine Army troops, involved soldiers from 14 allied countries and friends, assets of all the armed forces national and staff of the National Corps of the Alpine and Speleological Rescue and the civil protection ofNational Alpine Association.
"Traditional and modern exercise in which 14 countries friends and allies of our Armed Forces operated and trained together to prepare to intervene in any climatic and environmental condition. Much of the Earth is made up of mountains and much of the operations currently taking place are in compartmentalized and mountainous areas"Said General Graziano, chief of staff of the Defense, intervened at the start of the exercise.
On these peaks where the Italian artillery command was located 100 years ago, the Alpine troops - heirs of the legendary mountain soldiers who during the First World War wrote epic pages of military and mountaineering history - have demonstrated their ability to develop in the modern concept of "mountain warfare", an evolution of traditional high-altitude combat techniques.
"We must learn to operate in a modern and four-dimensional world, including cyber space, and we must continue to train our men and women in the best way. Today's natural gymnasium is an example of this, because where the environment is severe, brotherhood in arms, friendship, solidarity, the ability to know how to relate and operate in synergy with society and civil components, and therefore to to be soldiers of the mountain and alpine. A hundred years ago on these mountains there was a violent and frightening fight, even with hatred, because in the last year of the Great War Italy understood that a military defeat would mean the collapse of the whole nation. But the same enemies of that time are now our strongest friends, with the Slovenes, with the Croats, with the Austrians we are now engaged in international operations, as in Lebanon and Kosovo. We must therefore protect what has been built up to now, not take anything for granted, protecting in particular that heritage of common values shared with other countries, handed down by our grandparents, and making sure that the most important value to be preserved is that of a United Europe."
Greeting all the intervening Authorities and the much public present, the commander of the Alpine troops recalled how "today, after over 100 years, the names of the surrounding mountains bring back to the memory bloody battles, heroic deeds and episodes related to the hard life of soldiers in the mountains of which they remain evident and clearly visible traces in the surrounding area".
Just to remember all those young people who gave their lives on the mountains to the country, personal of the Military High Mountain Section of the Sports Activities Department of the Alpine Training Center in recent days it has opened a new tenth grade climbing route on the Torre Grande called "The boys of the '99", which they have been climbing for the first time today for the first time.
La High Mountain Section It is made up of some of the best elements of the Italian mountaineering landscape and by the most qualified Army military alpine guides and represents today the best and highest expression of the technical skills of the Alpine Training Center alpinism and sport climbing of the highest level.
