The ceremony for the commemoration of the 105th anniversary of the establishment of the first unit of the Italian Army's anti-aircraft specialty took place last Friday at the “Santa Barbara” barracks in Sabaudia, headquarters of the Counter-Aircraft Artillery Command.
On 10 January 1915 the Army - Navy joint commission for the study of materials intended for shooting against airships, chaired by the major general Alfeo Clavarino (first commander of the Anti-aircraft Artillery), decreed the establishment in Nettuno of the first anti-aircraft Department, with material self-reported previously acquired for experimentation.
The department, consisting of 4 sections for a total of about 140 men including officers, non-commissioned officers, troop soldiers and civilians, as well as 60 horses, was entrusted to Captain Augusto de Pignier with technical-training tasks and the formation of anti-aircraft sections from use both in field operations and in the protection of cities and production plants.
In formulating best wishes to all the anti-aircraft gunners for the anniversary of the establishment of the specialty, the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery, brigadier general Fabrizio Argiolas, recalled that in 1915 the anti-aircraft capacity was necessary to face the new threat coming from the sky (the airplane was born for about a decade), and underlined how, especially nowadays, the anti-aircraft artillery needs to be constantly updated to face threats in continuous evolution such as rotary and fixed wing aircraft , ballistic missiles and drones.
Remembering the events of the past and commemorating the fundamental moments in the history of the specialty contributes effectively to consolidating the spirit of the body, for sharing the values of theBe a soldier and to face the new challenges that the anti-aircraft artillery will have to face in the medium and long term.
