The traditional inauguration ceremony for the 8-2024 Academic Year of the Air Force Training Institutes took place on Friday 2025 November in Florence, at the Aula Magna of the Institute of Aeronautical Military Sciences, in the presence of the Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Defence, Senator Isabella Rauti.
The ceremony, attended by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Force General Luca Goretti, and numerous civil and military authorities, touched on themes such as the importance of training, the human element and the development of new technologies.
The inauguration of the Academic Year opened with a speech by the commander of the Schools and the 3rd air region, Air Force General Silvano Frigerio who, after a brief introduction on the main activities completed in the last Academic Year, wanted to highlight the need of the Armed Forces to implement a series of projects based on the potential of Artificial Intelligence.
The activation of the new training unit should be read in this sense: Awareness and Research in Artificial Intelligence which aims to promote knowledge and increase awareness among Air Force Academy students on the potential for using AI. Similarly, a project called “smart recruiting” is being implemented, which aims to adopt Artificial Intelligence for interactive engagement of potential candidates and effective communication that can explain all the training and professional opportunities within the Armed Forces.
With reference to the importance of the technological element for future challenges, however, General Frigerio highlighted how “investment in human capital represents the true enabling factor of the effects of aerospace power, since one cannot ignore the human resource, that is, militarily and professionally trained and educated personnel, firm in their own value principles and ready to sacrifice their own interests in favor of those of the community”.
The Chief of Staff of the Air Force then took the floor and, after greeting and thanking the numerous military and civil authorities present, the staff, the teachers and the young people attending the training institutes present in the room and connected via webex, urged the latter to be “the backbone of the Air Force in the near future by infusing the structure with new lifeblood, implementing a process of virtuous renewal and a consequent updating of knowledge, ensuring the growth and adaptation of the entire organization to current and future issues”.
“As the Air Force – continued General Goretti – we have a close bond with technology that is a distinctive feature of our DNA, necessary to express aerospace power. It is precisely the need to control and dominate this unstoppable technological development - think of artificial intelligence, drones, sensors, robotics, nanotechnology, biotechnology - that requires us to constantly anticipate innovation. An innovation that is in line with our reference principles from which we cannot derogate. It will be precisely these values that must be part of the professional baggage of every woman and every man in blue, precisely to create an Armed Forces increasingly cutting edge and available to the Country, fully aware of its capabilities".
At the end of his speech, the Chief of Staff declared the 2024/2025 Academic Year of the Air Force Training Institutes open.
The ceremony then saw the intervention of Father Paolo Benanti, Franciscan theologian of the third regular order who deals with ethics, bioethics and ethics of technology. In his speech, entitled “Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Challenges”, Father Benanti analyzed the theme of ethical problems connected to the use of artificial intelligence and tools based on algorithms. Specifically, the Franciscan theologian and member of the High Level Advisory Board on AI United Nation, highlighted how artificial intelligence is producing changes in every human activity, including national security. These profound transformations based on the development of AI can support man but, at the same time, require an ethical reflection.
In the face of this flood of artificial intelligence, in fact, it is more urgent than ever to develop a new universal language that can manage innovation. In this sense, Father Benanti introduces the concept of algor-ethics, that is "an ethic produced by humans but elaborated by machines through an algorithm. The best sensor to direct a machine - concludes the Theologian - remains the human element, especially in an extreme environment such as military flight".
The inauguration ceremony of the Academic Year concluded with the speech of the Undersecretary of State for the Ministry of Defense, Senator Isabella Rauti, who recalled how “The Institutes of the Air Force have trained generations of commanders and leaders. A tradition that is perpetuated thanks to the 'vocation to the future' which is a distinctive trait of the Air Force, capable of intertwining tradition and modernity. In the field of training - has continued - understood as a strategic domain, the Arma Azzurra knows how to combine vision and perspective, preparing for new competitions, the use of new languages and fully employing new technologies, from artificial intelligence to big data”The Undersecretary – who has the delegation for Training – then underlined the need for Defence to have "the cognitive and technological tools to defend against cyber attacks and threats to critical infrastructures, vital for national interests and security. And it is increasingly important and strategic - he concluded - the positive use of new technologies, from artificial intelligence to Quantum Computing, together with education and training to understand new threats and strengthen a preventive response capacity".
Awards and awards
The Inauguration of the Academic Year was also an opportunity to pay tribute, as per tradition, to a series of awards to students and attendees of the various Training Institutes who have distinguished themselves in the last academic year. The award ceremony for the prizes and recognitions saw the opening speeches of the Air Force Squadron General (r) Settimo Caputo, president of the Association of Air Force Pioneers and the Air Force Squadron General (ret.) Tiziano Tosi, president of the National Association of Family Members of Fallen and Mutilated of the Air Force (ANFCMA).
In particular, the following were awarded: the Annual Award for Military Aptitude in the Academies established by the Military Order of Italy and intended for the student who distinguished himself in military aptitude at the end of the 2nd year of the course; the Certificate of Merit of the Association of Air Force Pioneers established by the Association to give merit to aeronautical works, written by the students of the Air Force Training Institutes; the Tosi Award established by the National Association of Families of the Fallen and Mutilated of the Air Force and awarded to reserve pilots who distinguished themselves for military aptitude and flight activity; the Bronze Certificate of Merit of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George awarded to a student of the 2nd class of the regular courses of the Academy who has particularly distinguished himself, for his propensity and behavior, in charitable and welfare initiatives; the Daga d'Onore awarded to the first-ranked student marshal in the final ranking of the course and who attends the degree course provided for non-healthcare categories; the Plaques d'Onore to those attending the Arms and Health roles who during the first three years of the regular course have remained first in the ranking of their respective role.
Finally, the MBDA Defence Leadership Academy Award was also assigned, given to the Aspirant who, at the end of three years of attendance at the regular courses of the Air Force Academy, has distinguished himself for outstanding leadership characteristics; the Giulio Douhet Honorary Plaque, awarded to the student of the “G. Douhet” Air Force Military School who, at the end of the first two years of attendance, has achieved the highest overall merit score in academic achievement and military aptitude; and finally the Douhet-Mitchell Award, established jointly between the Institute of Aeronautical Military Sciences and the Air War College, awarded to one or more attendees, whose works have provided a significant contribution of thought and critical discussion for the progress of their country's military and aerospace aviation.
Balance sheets and numbers
In the Academic Year 2023/2024, a total of 7975 students passed through the Training Institutes and schools of the Air Force, of which 181 were foreign students. In particular, 213 officers and warrant officers obtained a 1st level degree, while 75 officers completed their studies with a master's degree. 58 officers, of whom 12 were foreign, obtained a military pilot's license at the Flight Schools in Italy and abroad, while 39 students attending - of whom 21 from other armed forces and state armed forces - obtained an airplane pilot's license; 2 officer students obtained an airplane navigator's license; 8 students attending from other armed forces and state armed forces obtained a military helicopter pilot's license, while 7 helicopter pilot's license was issued to firefighters and state police personnel. Finally, 96 captains achieved the 2nd level Master in Leadership and strategic analysis and 28 students graduated from the “Giulio Douhet” Air Force Military School.
The Institute of Aeronautical Military Sciences, dependent on the command of the Schools for the AM, is the site of numerous training activities including the normal course Master (carried out in collaboration with the Department of Political and Social Sciences "Cesare Alfieri" of the University of Florence), the staff course for captains of Special roles and further training sessions that include preparatory activities for the Operations Outside the National Borders with theoretical lessons and practical exercises. Professional courses and in-depth studies are also planned for officers in the rank of major/lieutenant colonel and colonel for those who will assume the role of group and department commander; to these, the Seminar for brigadier generals has also been added, which presents itself as a clear opportunity for reflection, during which to exchange experiences and knowledge, as well as to strengthen the analysis tools and stimulate the strategic thinking of future leaders of the Armed Forces.
