On 17 and 19 October, the celebrations for the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of the Corps of Engineers.
The event was divided into two different moments: the first, consisting of a military ceremony at the territorial technical office for land armaments in Nettuno on 17 October and saw officers from the corps of engineers deployed from both the operational area and the technical-administrative; subsequently, a conference in Rome on 19 October saw representatives of the technical bodies of the Army, Navy and Air Force illustrate the main sectors in which the military engineer is employed with his strong specialist components.
The Army logistics commander underlined how "Faced with the challenges that await us and the technical complexity that these imply, the figure of the military engineer presents itself for the Armed Force - and for Defense in general - as an irreplaceable element of connection between the military problem and its solution". “The specific skills, the continuous updating, the constant relationship with universities and research centers at a national and international level represent that added value that gives depth and centrality to the officers of the corps who must increasingly be the driving force in the modernization of the military instrument ”.
Lieutenant General Angelo Gervasio highlighted how “operational evolution and continuous technological progress require increasingly in-depth and effective levels of competence and professional development. In this context, the officer of the Corps of Engineers takes on a crucial role because by law he is appointed to be employed within the bodies responsible for technological innovation, technical experimentation and the acquisition of weapon systems, aimed at satisfying the needs and to guarantee the services requested by the Armed Forces".
During the military ceremony, the Army Cross of Merit was also awarded to the corps of engineers, for their unconditional contribution which contributed to raising the prestige of the corps and the military component within the country system. The interventions carried out during the conference highlighted the specialist skills and the fundamental role that the Corps of Engineers plays in the capacity development path that the Armed Force will have to follow in the near future and allowed us to acquire elements of comparison with the organization and the tasks of the technical bodies of the other Armed Forces.
The Corps of Engineers was established on 9 October 1980 through the unification of the pre-existing technical services of the various Arms. It is assigned institutional tasks such as presiding over the scientific and technical studies of the means needed by the Italian Army, as well as the creation and technical testing of the related prototypes, as well as the development of the technical conditions of the tender projects and the technical expertise in the fields of engineering, physics, chemistry and mathematics, including the infrastructure sector.
