Good morning director, I have only recently been following all the topics covered on Online Defense, but I must say that they capture my attention with considerable interest.
I will focus on a topic that has certainly already been discussed in the past but which today has returned to the fore due to what is happening in the world (war in Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, tensions and clashes in that stretch of sea where merchant ships transit, etc. ...).
Where can we find trained military personnel where they will be needed in case of "imminent" need to defend the Italian borders or to provide support due to lack of personnel in the Armed Forces?
The so-called "reserve" is back in the news which in the past was "selected" i.e. highly qualified personnel who were inserted into various military realities but, as far as I know, with very little development regarding continuity of service and/or career both due to limitations of age and due to lack of future job prospects. Now Defense Minister Guido Crosetto is announcing a selection of 10 "civilian" reserve units, i.e. citizens with a military past who will be punctually trained and trained to cover those staff shortages that actually exist after the suspension of the "conscription". The reservists will always be employed in the rear in support.
My question is: How to select these military personnel? What age limits should be imposed? Because, if you set yourself at the already known 45 years you will hardly find members, those who have a military background and can still make their contribution are now over 50 years old.
How will these "reservists" be classified with what salary and prospects because they will have to make an important choice to leave their jobs and move away from their families in order to carry out all the missions or services that will be entrusted to them? What will the selection criteria be? Where to draw personnel to support the Armed Forces and how will they be treated both from an economic and military point of view?
Thanks and good job
PP
Dear reader, it's true, this is a topic we have already covered but on which a real alarm should be raised.
He writes correctly "those who have a military background and can still make their contribution are now over 50 years old". With the suspension of the draft for twenty years now, the last trained forces are at a "difficult" age for what a conflict requires. However, in the Italian operational theaters of recent decades, soldiers over forty or fifty were not uncommon.
In Israel and Ukraine (in this case, before the "recruits" resembled real forced, often violent, sometimes fatal "round-ups") the popular response was significant and has quickly added 300.000 reservists to the available forces.
In light of these examples, rather than talking about numbers in the order of 10.000, wouldn't it be better not to do so at all and leave it alone?
I certainly don't want to criticize the politicians (on duty) provisionally in charge: in the "Pulcinella's country" political actions appropriate to the threats or (sure) near future, are cynically used by others (in bad faith or on direct foreign "order"...) to hinder any strengthening of the Alliance's weak link.
Why is it so hard (steal) create a reserve force of at least 100.000 men and women? For the cost?? In the third year of the third World War???
Let's open our eyes: we need one today National Guard, with broad enrollment parameters. In conclusion as already happens for the over 17.000 volunteer reservists of the military corps of the Italian Red Cross: from 18 to 60 years old (65 for officers).
The details (economic, regulatory,...) may be secondary.
Alternatively, is it really appropriate to continue to make a living from day to day?
Andrea Cucco
