On 22 February at the “Visconti” Auditorium of Palazzo Aeronautica in Rome, the change in the role of head of the support service took place between gen. brig. Pietro Spagnoli, outgoing commander, and col. Francesco De Simone, incoming. The handover was presided over by the logistics commander of the AM air team general Antonio Conserva and attended, in addition to all the service personnel and a representation of the dependent bodies, numerous military and civil authorities.
General Spagnoli, after thanking the participants who attended for the occasion, retraced the salient moments of his period of command, which “due to the peculiar and heterogeneous skills of the support service, it was a challenging, complex assignment but one that brought great satisfaction. This was possible thanks to the agility, flexibility and great spirit of service of all the service staff who on many occasions demonstrated professionalism and excellence. In particular during the covid-19 pandemic with the establishment of various HUBs for the flow of medical materials to be distributed widely among all institutions, or as in the Aquila Omnia operation aimed at the repatriation of Afghan refugees and their logistical accommodation, or as for support to the operations of the Eastern Flank. Ready, immediate responses and in full support of the operations of the Armed Forces".
At the end of his speech, General Spagnoli thanked the superior authorities for the trust granted to him and addressed Col. De Simone expresses his deepest wishes for good work, with the certainty that he will be able to count on the contribution of a human potential of undisputed professional competence.
Col. De Simone, after extending a warm welcome to those present, expressed his gratitude to General Conserva for the assignment of the prestigious position at the helm of the Support service, which confirms him among the ranks of the logistics command. “I take command of the service with great enthusiasm, satisfaction but above all pride, well aware of its peculiar mission within the logistics command and its role in helping to produce the operations required by the country”. Col. De Simone then addressed all the service staff, "a team that I know very well as extremely competent, made up of authoritative experts in their respective fields of employment, ready to give their best on every occasion" and assured to operate with "maximum commitment and availability, continuing in the direction traced by the general. Spaniards”.
General Conserva, in highlighting the extreme importance of the activity carried out by the support service, especially in favor of the operations conducted by the Armed Force on the national and international territory, thanked General Spagnoli for the work carried out and for the brilliant results obtained from all components of the service. He then extended his best wishes to Col. De Simone for this important role of responsibility in a very particular and continually changing historical moment, where the logistical tool takes on a concrete importance capable of guaranteeing support for the aerospace power of the Armed Forces in all contexts.
