In a few days, the call for applications for the admission of 118 students to one of the most prestigious military training centers, the Naval Academy of Livorno, ends. To understand the prospects and horizons of an exciting career that always expects the best from its men and women, we interviewed the director of the Institute, Rear Admiral Maurizio Ertreo.
It is too often stated that the increase in requests for admission to military academies is only the result of the economic crisis and consequent unemployment. As a military man - who at the time freely chose this path - does this not offend you?
I don't think it's worth being offended for so little. 38 years ago I made this choice of life very freely. My mother did not want me to undertake a military life, but I tried my luck, only in the Navy, I passed the test and the 1 ° November 1978 entered the Academy. Even then, in an Italy that was very different from that of now, there were boys who with that competition were looking for the stability they could not or could not find in civil life. Even now I think that someone takes this step also to find a solution to problems that may seem insurmountable. Generally, however, those who approach this profession do so because they are driven by a passion for the sea and an attachment to the above-average ideals of homeland and service to the community. They are often people looking for a life that is certainly not flat, based on absolute values and unchanging over time, rich in experience and knowledge in many areas. In any case, I can clearly see from my privileged position that even those young people who might have chosen this path perhaps by chance or without having well-defined objectives, find in the Academy all those stimuli that lead them to "want" to become naval officers not for what the Armed Forces can give them, but for what they can bring positive to our organization. So the aspect to consider it is not so much the reason why a boy enters the Academy, but the motivation with which he comes out at the end of the training process.
What is the Naval Academy of Livorno?
The Naval Academy of Livorno is the training institute par excellence of the Italian Navy, whose institutional task is the basic training of Navy officers of any Body and Role.
What are the requirements to apply for admission?
Young people who compete to become students of the normal courses of the Academy must have a secondary school diploma, between the ages of 17 and 21 years (not exceeding twenty-two years on the date indicated in the competition announcement) and must enjoy excellent physical fitness. The requirements are indicated in the competition announcement, published 15 last January in the Official Journal. The selection is strict and is based, in order, on a cultural selection test and knowledge of English, on medical examinations, physical efficiency tests, psycho-attitudinal tests and finally on an oral mathematics exam for all the bodies with the exception of health professionals taking a biology exam and, finally, an optional foreign language exam other than English. Generally, only one candidate on 60 succeeds in crowning his dream and becoming an official student of our Navy. But once they have entered, the selection continues and many are unable to keep up, due to the difficulty of university studies or because they do not demonstrate the right attitude to military life.
Has it changed since you were a student?
In essence, the Academy has not changed, practically, since its establishment in 1881. What changes constantly are all the collateral aspects, such as university procedures, sports performed, the number of hours of lessons, the way of teaching way of learning. It continually evolves everything that needs to change to allow the Academy to keep up with the times, so that the institution can continue to provide students and course-attending officers with high standards of all-out preparation. What does not change, and must not change in an institution like the Naval Academy, is the goal of cultivating in young people characteristics such as the ability to adapt, resistance to stress, physical and moral courage, humility and honesty that have always been the fundamental assumptions underlying the development of the personality and conscience of a servant of the nation, such as a naval officer. The Academy of 2016 is no easier or more difficult than that of 1881 or 1955, rather than that of 1920. The extra advantage of this Institute is its ability to maintain the difference that a young person finds between life unchanged over time. civil and military. This ability makes the Academy always a little detached but always close to the youth, understanding the expectations, dreams and uncertainties of each generation that crosses the green gate of San Jacopo. If this were not the case, the Academy would be just a beautiful school, not a place where tomorrow's commanders are trained.
What differences do you see in the current generation of cadets compared to yours?
The differences are many and they are very few. There are so many when you think that my generation during its childhood saw the first washing machine or the first television arrive home. When I was a student there was no ATM, no one knew what computers were and there was still a prison in the Academy. Our ability to endure daily adversities was probably superior, because we came from an Italy where everyday life, while being much simpler for everyone, was much less muffled in many respects. We knew how to live even without the internet and without cell phones, precisely because these amenities did not yet exist. The generation I see at the Academy in 2016 is certainly more dynamic, they know the world and all its problems much better than mine did, they use computers, social networks and communication systems to live daily life, but I think it is a bit more fragile and like any complex and advanced architecture, it requires a lot of maintenance. These are the differences, which are almost all due to the difference in age between the generations. For the rest, today's students are very similar to those of yesterday. The weaknesses, the difficulties of adaptation, the character limits are more or less the same, as are the goals, dreams and expectations of the future. So it is appropriate to say that there is nothing new under the sun.
How do you describe life in the Academy to potential candidates?
The student, in his typical day, after the alarm, performs military or sports activities and continues with university lessons during the morning; the first afternoon is still dedicated to sports, military and professional activities; the second part of the afternoon is dedicated to study. Attending the Naval Academy means experiencing days with intense rhythms to prepare for the harsh life that the sea imposes, but at the same time experiencing unique experiences that allow a rapid maturation and a strong awareness of one's future role. The values at the base of the student's life, are the founding ones of being military: "Homeland and honor" is the motto that in big letters reigns on the Square of the Institute, where the visitors do not only carry out their formal-military training, but where they also spend their periods of free time and recreation. At the Institute the visitor is not only "a student of the Academy", but a soldier in training who undergoes a multi-faceted training that ranges from ethical-military aspects to university studies, passing through a technical-professional and sports preparation not to be overlooked . In the period of formation the students develop a strong spirit of body indispensable to face the future command experience.
The Navy is and will still be reduced in terms of personnel and resources. Will the ambitions of the cadets be met?
The fact that the Navy is being downsized in terms of means and personnel is undoubted. There will be fewer ships and fewer commands available, against a constant (if not increased) commitment by the fleet in the future. I believe that the ambitions of this generation of officers will be fully met because these guys will get the brakes in the years when a formidable renewal is underway, in terms of fleet hardware. The same happened to my generation whose exit from the Academy coincided with the entry into service of the Naval Units financed by the 1975 Naval Law. I therefore believe that these young officers will not lack operational commitments (just look at what happens every day between Gibraltar and the Indian Ocean, the so-called enlarged Mediterranean), to satisfy their own "hunger" for operations. These commitments will await them on less ships of the past, but on new ships, cutting-edge, efficient and that envy so many Marinas of the world.
Can you tell us some anecdotes from the life of the Academy?
Anecdotes of my life as a pupil I could tell many, but not all of them are edifying! So I prefer to talk about my current life as an Academy. Being the commander of this Institute is a beautiful thing, as it is beautiful to see these children grow up every day. However, beyond the amenities related to the particular role and assignment, being the commander of the Naval Academy is not an easy task. It is necessary to harmonize the military role of commander with that of educator (something that not everyone is able to be). Then you have to be an employer, be vigilant about the administrative aspects, etc., etc. The responsibility is added up every day. There are moments, fortunately very few, even in my life when I need to clarify my ideas, when I have to make an important decision, when I have to take for example a decision that has a strong impact on a person's future, or when I have to face problems obstacles whose complex aspects must be harmonized in a reasonable and effective solution. In these cases, when I need a further boost, I go to the Academy Chapel, as I often did as a pupil almost forty years ago. And I watch them the great tombstone with the names of the officers lost at sea with their ship during the last war. I remember very well the first name, that of CC Botti, commander of the submarine Provana, and the last, engraved in a diametrically opposite position, STV Palmisano, fell on the submarine Settembrini. Reading these names is a very effective medicine that gives so much strength and that I discovered, as I said, as a pupil. I hope that today's students are able to make such discoveries, which can only be made at the Academy.
What advice do you want to give to candidates today as the commander of the institution and which would have given fresh arrivals to new arrivals?
I would like to tell today's candidates never to give up. There will be many moments in the life of the Academy (and in the subsequent one) in which the desire to change direction comes. If this were to happen, I invite everyone to think carefully about the most intimate motivations that led to the choice of life made. If these are still solid and not affected by the rust of doubt then there are no problems. Ours is not an easy profession and it is often even less easy for our relatives who have to deal with the daily effects of a life different from the one that many other people close to us lead. Just as love within a couple or a family makes it possible to overcome the greatest adversities, so love for the profession and above all for the absolute values towards which loyalty has been solemnly sworn, right here in the Academy, allows you to overcome the darkest moments of a military career. If I were now an ensign at a 2016 slide I could only say: you made the right choice; the difficulties will never end but if you had wanted an easy life you would not have come to the Navy. So you are in the right place.
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(Photo: Marina Militare)
