Kosovo: change to the ITALFOR GSA command

(To Greater Defense)
29/01/19

The alternation ceremony for the ITALFOR GSA command (Adherence Support Group) took place at the Italian Village Base in Belo Polje / Bellopoje in Kosovo - in the presence of the commander of MNBG-W (Multinational Battle Group West), Colonel Gianfranco Di Marco between Lieutenant Colonel Paolo Murru, transferring, and Lieutenant Colonel Raffaele Faraca, taking over.

The Adherence Support Group - in NATO terminology, Combat Service Support (CSS) Battalion - is an inter-force unit under the Multinational Battle Group West, set up to provide the necessary logistical support for carrying out the operations of both the Italian contingent and the foreign contingents involved on mission in Kosovo at the base of Villaggio Italia.

In the mandate that has just ended, the GSA was set up on a logistic regiment basis Julia, which in addition to the elements of staff provided a support company for the maneuver, with the main contribution of a transmission company, coming from the 2nd Alpine transmission regiment of Bolzano, as well as technical and specialized personnel from other departments of the Armed Forces.

In his farewell speech, Lieutenant Colonel Murru expressed words of gratitude to the men and women who are employed by him to be able to create a cohesive and reactive "group" despite the different backgrounds.

The transferring commander also drew up a balance sheet of the work of the last 5 months, recalling that the GSA staff traveled over 200.000 km, supplied 235.000 liters of fuel, carried out more than 4.000 hours of work in the workshop to maintain efficiency of the vehicle fleet, managed the transit of around 1200 inflow and outflow passengers - divided into 27 flights and 18 ferries - and handled over 500 tons of material transported both by air and by sea. Among the tasks of the GSA there are also those of ensuring health support for deployed personnel and guaranteeing the functional services of garrison life such as canteen, laundry and infrastructure maintenance.

The commander of the MNBG-W colonel Di Marco then welcomed the incoming unit, set up on a logistic regiment basis Garibaldi coming from Persano (SA) - which currently provides an equal unit also in support of the UNIFIL Mission in Lebanon - expressing best wishes to Lieutenant Colonel Faraca for the continuation of the mission, with the certainty that the GSA will continue to perform its tasks flawlessly assigned.