In the morning, in Rome, in the presence of the Defense Ministers, Elisabetta Trenta and of the Interior Matteo Salvini, the Chief of Defense Staff Claudio Graziano and the Commander General of the Arma Giovanni Nistri, the ceremony for the 40th anniversary took place anniversary of the founding of the Special Intervention Group (GIS), which was attended by representatives of the national and foreign Special Forces, testifying to the professional consideration that the department has been able to achieve in the field in many years of activity.
The commander general, during his speech, underlined how the GIS operates driven by the desire to serve. "Men of duty who put their rights in the background behind those of citizens". Not super men, but of conscious men.
Returning to the GIS motto "in the virtue of the individual the group draws strength - In Singuli virtute aciei vis - the weapon must be remembered every day - General Nistri concluded - that it is in virtue of the 110.000 men that make up our institution that we have drawn, that we draw and that we will always draw the strength to continue to serve the institutions. In the virtue of 110.000 men, who are many but many more than the few who can forget the path of virtue".
Minister Salvini, in his brief speech, thanked the operators and all their family members and recalled that his duty as minister is to give to the weapon not only men and means but "respect. The sense of honor and the sense of respect". I will never admit - He continued - that the eventual mistake of one allows to tarnish the sacrifice and the commitment of hundreds of thousands of boys and girls in uniform". He concluded by thanking the GIS men for putting their loyalty to the country before their own and family interests.
Finally, the Minister of Defense took the floor. After addressing a "special greeting to the commander of GIS and his men", To which he expressed"the deepest appreciation for the professionalism, the sense of duty, the courage and exemplarity with which they perform their delicate tasks". He then greeted the GIS operators no longer in service and briefly retraced the history of GIS: from its birth on 6 February 1978, in full terrorism emergency, due to the idea, impulse and directive of the then Minister of the Interior Francesco Cossiga, at the "operational baptism" in December 1980, on the occasion of the revolt of the prisoners in the prison of Trani, to the numerous and more recent successes in the capture of fugitives and kidnappers, as well as in the neutralization of dangerous terrorists. Be aware that you represent a highly specialized force of which Italy is proud on the national and international scene.
Minister Trenta emphasized "the Government's attention to the whole Carabinieri Weapon, which has always been and is close to the citizen and every single carabiniere has always been and is a reference point for honest citizens, an example in terms of rectitude and integrity ... but where ascertaining that these values have been negated, we must act and ascertain the truth by isolating those responsible for the purpose of restoring the feeling of trust towards the citizens towards the Arma of the Carabinieri and the Institutions".
The minister concluded "renewing the most heartfelt appreciation to GIS and to the whole Arma dei Carabinieri for its activity".
During the ceremony, a Solemn Commendation was delivered to the Department, as the first certificate of merit, and a certificate to the last operator still effective at the Department, who was one of the founding members. It ended with a spectacular exercise to free hostages from a building, in which the paratroop carabinieri of the 1st "Tuscania" regiment also took part for tactical support, in addition to First Intervention rates (API) and alle Support Operating Teams (SOS) and assets of the Mobile, helicopters, investigative, specialized and territorial organizations of the Armory.
Afterwards, at the end of the ceremony, the authorities moved within the Representation Salons of the Mobile and Specialized Unit Command where, in the presence of the CEO and general manager of Poste Italiane Matteo Del Fante and the manager Corporate Affairs Giuseppe Lasco has been presented a stamp dedicated to the 40 years of GIS. The stamp, which is part of the thematic series "the civic sense", is a tribute and a sign of gratitude towards a highly specialized military department that performs an extraordinarily precious job at the service of the community.
