It took place in recent days, at the "Mittica" barracks in Pordenone, in the presence of the commander of the North Operating Forces, general of the army corps Maurizio Riccò, the ceremony of turnover in command of the 132nd armored brigade "Ariete", between the brigadier general Marco Longo, transferring, and the colonel Domenico Leotta, taking over.
The main local civil and military authorities and representatives of the fighting and weapons associations took part in the event.
The general b. Longo, destined to hold a position at the Army general staff in Rome, left theRam after seventeen months of intense command, during which the large combat unit, with its dependent departments, was engaged in multiple operational and training activities, in Italy and abroad.
Among these, worth mentioning are the participation in the "Joint Enterprise" operation in Kosovo and the "Baltic Guardian" operation in Latvia of the 11th Bersaglieri regiment, the contribution of qualified assets of the brigade for the "Leonte" operation in Lebanon and the use, for about a month, of the 132nd tank regiment as part of the NATO requirement called enhanced Vigilance Activity (eVA) in Bulgaria.
Added to this is the constant participation of the brigade's assets in the "Safe Roads" operation in various national locations (Milan, Rome, Padua and Trieste) as well as the interventions of the engineering unit in the multiple activities of clearing the territory from war ordnance.
Equally significant were the numerous training activities and the commitment to strengthening the already excellent relationships with the various realities of the Pordenone area thanks to the numerous local initiatives which theRam has contributed to the creation, in the field of sport, of social assistance and culture.
For Colonel Leotta, coming from Personnel Employment department of the Army, this is the first important assignment in the Triveneto, after having been employed for several years on the Army general staff and having commanded the "Savoia" cavalry regiment (3rd) of Grosseto.
