Social media has now become the main way to acquire information and share your ideas and work. If you can avoid the abyss of fake news that sometimes contaminate them, online platforms, with their speed and pervasiveness, have even surpassed the now nostalgic television, which has become a background music.
Although the functioning of algorithms often remains a mystery, it is interesting to observe successful phenomena such as the private Facebook page "Ricordi di vita militare", created nine years ago to reunite former comrades. It has over 26 thousand members, all linked by a common past in the Armed Forces. To access it, you need to document your military past, preferably with a photo and with the indication of your echelon or block. There are many other successful and interesting ones in searches, some linked to specific courses, corps or specialties, such as paratroopers.
In an era where everything is expected immediately, these platforms offer the opportunity to reconnect with old comrades in arms, bunkmates and brothers from a thousand adventures. Real reunions are more difficult.
In this context I would like to re-propose an episode of my experience by adding some details, a small piece to the many photos and fascinating stories of those who have served the country.
The winter camp
It was January or February 1989, when my battalion, the 3° Trasmissioni Spluga, participated in a winter camp near Ponte della Priula, in the province of Treviso. On that occasion, we were attached to the Voloire, the Horse Artillery.
I, a volunteer on extended service, was the team leader of three radio link operators. When we reached the designated location to install the RX and TX antennas of the PR5 radio complex, we positioned our ACM80, suitably camouflaged, in a hollow. With us were two non-commissioned officers who were experts in radio links, including Sergeant Major Rapisarda. Our part in the field had already been organized in the battalion by Marshal Formica, a transmission expert.
The PR5 was a fairly bulky field radio complex, equipped with four telephone channels and an old grey SIP telephone. To keep it operational, we used the GE205, a noisy single-cylinder 4-stroke petrol generator that kept us company during our guard shifts, powering the equipment during the freezing winter nights, where the temperature dropped to -20 degrees. We slept in the back of the truck, without tents or modern heating, on beige mattresses (luckily without holes) wrapped in sleeping bags and dressed in the unforgettable wool “superpippo”. In the morning, the ice inside the amphibians is a memory that is still alive today.
I also remember the rare showers at base camp and the always tasty and spicy food, provided on time.
Life on the truck, our makeshift "studio flat", had a hard rhythm even though we were surrounded by the silence of nature. I had my holster with me for the Beretta 9 short although I doubt that anyone would have ventured into that remote place. At the base camp there was the guardhouse, where the inspection of the weapon and ammunition was carried out, but it could only be reached at specific times; everything was managed by the artillery. On the lawn were stretched meters of wires for the field telephone communications, and it was not difficult to stumble.
During the night, one of our tasks was to refuel the generator, an operation not always welcome, especially at two in the morning. Corporal Torriglia, a Genoese, was afraid to do it with the engine running, repeating continuously: “There's the candle, there's the candle!” Despite his fears, we never caught fire.
The legendary ACM80
I also remember a very steep descent of the ACM onto a land sill that left me perplexed. Captain Romeo, well aware of the capabilities of our ACM80, ordered us to continue. I, not so convinced, told him in a heated tone: “Captain, it’s capsizing!” He looked at me without speaking, while the driver was visibly tense being almost vertical. But in the end, the truck did not tip forward, as the captain well knew. Truly surprising the qualities of that iconic military truck of the 80s, built following the specific military needs; a point of no small importance.
The colonel
One of the most curious episodes occurred when we received the long-awaited control call on the gray SIP telephone, the only object vaguely attributable to civilian life in that remote operational context. I answered nonchalantly, perhaps to exorcise long days of isolation: “Hello, good morning.” From the other side a voice said: “Celentano, how are things going?” Without recognizing the voice, I asked: “Excuse me, who am I speaking to?” The answer was blunt: “As for who you are speaking to, I am the commander!” It was Lieutenant Colonel Giuliano Laghi, my battalion commander. I thought I would be incinerated immediately, but fortunately he was satisfied with our work and there were no consequences. He, a very capable officer, was promoted to general.
Active and confident young people
Although during their military service most young men counted the days until their discharge and were critical of the military, years after their discharge, many seem to experience a sort of ethical conversion towards that year dedicated to the nation.
Mine is just a very simple story of the many that we fifty-year-olds of today can tell with a certain pride, a fragment of youth lived with sacrifice and dedication; useful for facing the challenges of life.
Thanks to online platforms, we can relive those moments, also appreciating the progress of the Armed Forces, which today offer safer working conditions and modern equipment. A journey into the past that calls our memories back into service and, in a certain sense, allows us to virtually embrace our companions in adventure, rediscovering the emotions and challenges of those days inside a "virtual barracks". In short, a call to service that manages to transmit that charm that the military environment inevitably transmitted, and that today stops time, making us feel young and active again.
Photo: author
