On Friday, the Army Chief of Staff, General Salvatore Farina, visited various departments of the Armed Force located in the Puglia and Campania regions.
At the 82nd "Torino" infantry regiment in Barletta, a department under the "Pinerolo" mechanized brigade, the Chief of SME was received by the unit commander, Colonel Sandro Iervolino and by the brigade commander, Brigadier Giovanni Gagliano , and took part in a situation briefing on the department's current and future operational - training activities.
The occasion was propitious to seal the influx at the 82nd of the first VTLM 2 NEC (Network Enabled Capabilities) with HITROLE light remote turret, recently flowed into the department. Currently, the regiment fulfills the function of receiving "hub" of the new combat platforms for infantry, for all departments of the "Pinerolo". 12 units of the first tranche have already been delivered to the "Pinerolo" brigade, while a further 4 systems will be supplied next January 25 and will be destined to equip, in addition to the 82nd "Torino", also the 9th "Bari" infantry regiment of Trani and the 7th Bersaglieri regiment of Altamura. These first new “Lince” are part of a supply of 34 VTLM 2 NECs, to which a further 165 new systems will be added, already funded and soon to be contracted. The renewal of these combat platforms will offer military personnel, employed at home and in operations abroad, higher standards of safety, protection and efficiency. The new VTLMs will be equipped with the latest generation equipment that will improve radio and satellite communications and inter-force integration.
During the meeting with the staff of the 82nd Infantry Regiment, General Farina expressed full satisfaction with the professionalism and competence shown in the conduct of the recent activities, urging everyone to continue in the wake of enthusiasm, collaboration and results achieved. At the end of the visit, General Farina met the mayor of the city of Barletta, dr. Cosimo Damiano Cannito.
In Foggia, the chief of SME made stops at the 21st “Trieste” artillery regiment and the 11th sappers engineering regiment. The occasion made it possible to take stock of the situation also on the “Caserme Verdi” project. In fact, the offices of the two departments are part of the national project which aims to create modern, safe, efficient and fully functional, energy-efficient bases. The goal is to make them more respectful of the environment and effective from an energy point of view, so that they can accommodate both soldiers and their families, build sports facilities and recreational and health facilities nearby, which can also be used by the citizens. In the Puglia region, in particular, in addition to Bari and Lecce, arrangements for the assignment of the project that will bring together the two barracks "Sernia" and "Pedone" are already under development.
During the morning, in Campania, in the "Berardi" barracks in Avellino, headquarters of the 232 ° transmission regiment, the head of SME met a representative of the staff of the department to whom he addressed his personal greetings and applause for the many and recent activities carried out. The visit continued with the salute to the War Flag and with a brief office call with the regimental commander, who illustrated the main operational activities of the department, including the commitment in Afghanistan, the use of assets in the of the “Igea” operation, with the preparation of Drive-Through-Defense (DTD) in Avellino and Benevento, support Communication & Information System (CIS) at the field hospitals of Perugia and Cosenza.
All activities and meetings with military personnel took place in full compliance with the rules aimed at containing and combating the spread of CoVid-19.
