Yesterday afternoon, on a particularly significant day for the Italian Armed Forces, at "Camp RS", Corps General Salvatore Camporeale handed over the post of Deputy Commander (DCOM) of the NATO mission Resolute Support (RS) to Lieutenant General (UK) Giles Hill.
The ceremony was held in the presence of the commander of RS, General (US) Austin Scott Miller, of NATO Senior Civilian Representative, Ambassador Sir Nicholas Kay, the Ambassador of Italy, His Excellency Roberto Cantone, the Afghan Defense and Interior Ministers, Asadullah Khalid and Massoud Andarabi, the Director of National Directorate Security (NDS), Ahmad Zia Saraj, the Chief of General Staff (CoGS), General Besmellah Waziri, and of numerous civil and military authorities.
In the mandate year, characterized by the start of peace negotiations and the presidential elections, General Camporeale supported Afghan, institutional and military partners, and represented RS in relations with the international and diplomatic community - as the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) - with the countries of the Coalition and with the different NATO organizations.
"Congratulations Salvatore, for your exceptional job in the last twelve months. Thank you for your friendship, knowing that the mission has made significant progress thanks to your contribution - so in his speech General Miller, who then concluded - The mission will miss you and I personally can't wait to be able to work with you again in the future ".
In his farewell address, General Camporeale briefly illustrated the significance of November 4th and thanked Afghanistan, its leadership and NATO for the synergy with which they operate.
"Resoluteness, dedication and sacrifice of every Coalition soldier, continue to inspire me. The best soldiers in the world are represented here - emphasized the senior official - The most important virtue for a society? Pluralism. It is therefore a plural Afghanistan that I hope will arise in the future, where every individual, without distinction of ethnicity, gender and religion, is free to express himself, contributing to the development of this beautiful country ".
As a premise of the event, the general honored the memory of the 54 Italians who died in Afghanistan, including Major Francesco La Rosa, Lieutenant Mauro Gigli and Corporal Pierdavide De Cillis; three Gold Medals for Military Valor from today remembered in the Hall of Valor of "" Camp RS "".
Resolute Support, a NATO-led mission, is composed of soldiers from 38 nations, all united in a single purpose, to contribute to training, assistance and advice to local institutions and security forces in order to facilitate the conditions for the creation of a state of law, credible and transparent institutions and above all, autonomous and well-equipped security forces. This process is leading the Afghan Security Forces to take on the task of guaranteeing the security of the country and of its fellow countrymen.
