On the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Cavour, last Tuesday 6 September, the banner of unity stood out: permeated by the very high values contained in the tricolor, the alternation ceremony for the command of the unit took place.
To take command of the flagship of the Navy, the captain of the vessel Enrico Vignola who took the baton from the captain of the vessel Francesco Saladino, who thus concluded, between successes and missions accomplished, his period of command of the aircraft carrier.
Captain Saladin greets and pays homage to his crew - "About 550 sailors inspired by bold determination, wisdom and intimate cohesion" - at the end of an intense and rewarding period that saw the aircraft carrier the protagonist of numerous national and international operational and training activities. With the strategically important objective of the Armed Force to consolidate and increase the national aircraft carrier capacity, over the last year, on several occasions Nave Cavour operated at sea with the Carrier Strike Group Europeans and NATO - US of the aircraft carrier Truman, French of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, English of the aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth and Spanish of the Juan Carlos Primero - achieving high standards of interoperability and integration with allied navies and also receiving international appreciation for the professionalism and operational capabilities demonstrated.
In this sense, the process of acquiring and consolidating the ability to operate on board the aircraft carrier with fifth generation F-35B aircraft continued, a strategic peculiarity of our Navy, the only one in the European Union and of the highest level on the panorama. world.
In the last year, there has been a significant increase in the flight activities of the brand new jet, activities that for the first time in history have assumed a joint value thanks to the integration of an Air Force F-35B aircraft on board the aircraft carrier .
Under the command of CV Saladin, Nave Cavour he also took part in two exercises Offshore, the major training event of the Navy in which the naval team trains in the maritime domain but whose characteristics are also developed in the air and land contexts, and in the innovative ones of space and cyber-security.
In his greeting speech, Commander Saladin wished to thank the women and men of the aircraft carrier, real professionals of the Sea, for the spirit of self-denial and persistence constantly shown. Love of country and a spirit of sacrifice are the values that distinguish Nave's crew Cavour: thanks to the firm adherence of the staff to the ship's motto “in arduis servare mentem”, this year too the unit has been able to reach new, more and more ambitious and important goals.
The commander Vignola, therefore, assumes the command of Nave Cavour with the proud awareness, responsibility and honor of guiding the flagship and its crew towards new successes and rewarding challenges of national and international caliber.
