Italy calls, the Army responds!

(To Gian Pio Garramone)
24/04/21

In Italy we have a recurring habit of snubbing uniforms whatever they are, but then when we are in the quagmire of problems we remember that they exist and that in times of need they never back down and get us out of problems of any kind. The covid-19 emergency makes no difference! In the history of Italy, any government, of any color, has made use of it.

After a year of commissioner of Domenico Arcuri, the current prime minister makes a change at the top by firing Arcuri and appointing the general of the army corps Francesco Paolo Figliuolo. Notwithstanding that I have never believed in the saviors of the homeland, this reflection of mine does not want to be a praise to man, but an understanding why the change of pace is tangible. Certainly two main characteristics are evident, the professional curriculum and the administrative machinery on which he can rely.

The gen. Figliuolo has gained management experience both in peace and in "war", in fact in the international context he has gained experience as commander of the national contingent in Afghanistan, in the context of the ISAF operation and as commander of the NATO Forces in Kosovo and in the national context he has held the post of Chief General Office of the Chief of Defense Staff, and since 7 November 2018 he is the Army Logistics Commander.

Surely being able to manage contingents in such demanding and unstable operational areas makes a general an excellent public manager, but is this the only difference? certainly not, further advantage is the administrative support machine. The general can rely on an administrative-bureaucratic machine, such as the structures of the army, well-established to operate at any time and with a clear chain of command that transforms itself into control along the entire line of execution.

Probably at the end of this emergency we will have to ask ourselves about the structure of our Civil Protection, despite the latest reform on the regulatory level, on the executive level the operational machine should probably be reviewed, and try to imagine a Civil Protection as in other nations, or a sort of reserve of the Armed Forces. For example, in the United States they have the National Guard, a reserve force with rates in the various states that can be called upon to carry out an active assignment by the governors to respond to civil protection emergencies.

It would also be desirable for Italy to have a force that can be mobilized as needed, at the disposal of the governors, which would allow them to operate in contiguity with the structures of the Armed Forces.

I want to clarify that what I have said is not a criticism of the world of volunteering which has given so much and has worked miracles during this emergency and in all the emergencies of Italy, but a reflection on the operational organization of a sector that alas is increasingly the protagonist in the Italian reality, due to the numerous emergencies of all kinds that unfortunately we are used to experiencing.