During the usual audience at the Holy See, Pope Francis received, together with their families, the Army soldiers employed in the "Safe Roads" operation, as part of the Lazio and Abruzzo grouping.
At the end of the hearing, the commander of the parachute brigade thunderbolt, Brigadier General Massimiliano Mongillo, handed over to His Holiness the honorary Military Parachutist license for "Your testimony to the universal values of courage, duty, integrity and the spirit of service, the foundations of the actions of the paratroopers of the Folgore Brigade."
The silver-winged certification is obtained by every parachutist at the end of a very selective training course, which can be overcome not only thanks to psycho-physical skills, but also and above all thanks to strong motivation and the deepest belief in fundamental values such as courage, duty, integrity, which push us to always carry out our work at the service of others, putting common interest before personal interest.
The “Strade Sicure” operation involves the use of a military contingent on the national territory for the needs of surveillance and garrison and patrolling of sensitive sites and objectives, also in relation to the extraordinary needs of preventing and combating crime and terrorism, as well as to strengthen the control and safety devices of the places where the main railway infrastructures are located, in support of the Police Forces responsible for safety and public order competent for the territory.
From mid-December 2023 the command of the group which operates in Lazio and Abruzzo and which involves over 1.300 men on approximately 100 sensitive sites, is placed under the responsibility of the parachute brigade thunderbolt.
