“What you have seen today is the transformation of the infantry which in the last 10 years has achieved special capabilities, once characteristic of the special forces, but now it has become the heritage of all the Alpine troops”. Brigadier General Michele Risi summarized the outcome of the mountaineering exercise that was held on Thursday 7 July at the "5 Torri", the Dolomite site above Cortina, in the presence of the Chief of Defense Claudio Graziano, the troop command alpine and many ordinary people who came especially for the occasion.
What has been seen has in fact stimulated the public with comments and comparisons with James Bond's films especially in the second part of the essay, where the special alpine troops, on board but also securely anchored outside of helicopters, dropped by ropes in a whale simulating fights for the tactical grip of a ground. But highly specialized training was seen above all in the first phase, where black pens climbed the vertical walls of the Five Towers spikes with difficulty up to the 8 ° degree, carried airways, simulated helplines, with stretched bars roped or raised by helicopters who, with difficult but precise maneuvers, completed the rescue work.
Together with the Italian soldiers, 500 men of the 13 mountain troops have ventured, among them Austria, Germany, Chile, Argentina and observers from Oman, India and Pakistan interested in evaluating their own participation for the next edition. An exercise that cemented the inter-force spirit of the participants, so much so that at the end of the day they crossed their own languages by walking back together to the base of Baita de Dones. Episodes that confirm what was declared by the commander of the alpine troops the general of the army corps Federico Bonato. "The participation of many nations, with which there is a sharing of values, represents an exceptional opportunity for everyone to exchange opinions and experiences, comparing themselves in a sector - that of mountaineering - in continuous evolution and in an environment - that of the mountains - sought after by all because it provides complete training ".
The exercises of the "Taurinense", "Julia" brigades and the Aosta Alpine Training Center were also attended by units of the Navy, Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza who flanked the rangers of the 4th Alpine Parachute Regiment, the 8th Regiment Alpini of Venzone, the helicopter pilots of the regiments Altair of Bolzano and Aves of Viterbo, the 17 ° counter-artillery Sforzesca and the cynophilies of the veterinary military center of Grosseto.
(photo: courtesy of Alessandro Sarno)
