Last Saturday, in Courtyard of Honor of the Military Academy, the ceremony for the delivery of the sword to the cadets of the 202nd “Honor” course took place, a formal act that establishes for the latter the acquisition of the status of officer cadets.
The ceremony, conducted in full compliance with the current regulations for combating and containing COVID-19, took place in the presence of the commander of the Military Academy, Brigadier General Rodolfo Sganga.
In front of the pupils regiment, for the first time deployed in its entirety in historical uniform, Colonel Pasquale Spanò, commander of the regiment, emphasized "The fundamental importance of the value of brotherhood in arms, a value that is placed at the base of any other teaching that will be imparted to you in the rest of your training course".
The course leader of the 201st course handed the sword to the representative of the 202nd course, while the second year students wished in unison to those of the first “Good luck!”; the singing by the entire pupil regiment of the "Una Acies" finally sealed the twinning between the two courses.
In the afternoon, at the sports field of the Montecuccoli barracks, seat of the pupils regiment, the chaplain of the Military Academy, Don Marco Falcone, officiated a religious function which ended with the blessing of the swords of the official pupils of the 202nd “Honor” course; according to tradition, this blessing takes place in the parishes of the pupils' places of residence during the midnight mass of Christmas, but the contingent emergency health situation has inevitably entailed the need for a temporary exception.
The sword, a symbol of belonging to a military training school, is handed over to the first year students by the second year students and represents an important passage of traditions that are handed down from generation to generation among the students of the Military Academy; the old man transmits to the hat the values of "being military" and, with the delivery of the sword, officially recognizes it as an integral part of that single group - Una Acies - motto of the Military Academy.
