Basques and degrees for the 192 ° "Character"

Each with his motivations, each with his aspirations has left everything and everyone to be shaped by an institution that no longer requires only blind obedience.

The Army, today more than ever, is called upon to respond to a spectrum of increasingly diverse and diverse threats; his men must guarantee not only military diligence, but also some intellect, decision-making spirit and knowledge of the world.

To make these young and future leaders worthy of the degree they carry, the armed force teaches not only to be military but to be a crucial pawn that moves around the world as an instrument of international politics.

Making decisions that do not only concern the military aspect, but also and above all, the social and geopolitical one is the new diktat for platoon leaders up to the highest levels of the hierarchy.

The Italian State must shape the minds to a higher reasoning that involves different areas of competence, it must refine the intuition and enrich the knowledge. He must transform simple soldiers into Commanders of Men.

Framed in this complex role, the official need for a university education of the highest level.

The Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Strategic Sciences has just this purpose, instructing officers to move around the world.

The course of study begins at the Military Academy of Modena in close collaboration with the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, we study - and much - with tight rhythms and a social life almost equal to zero.

Very hard physical training but also the context in which these young boys are framed.

Their resilience begins here.

Who does not keep the pace is out, for those who resist a new chapter begins. After leaving Modena the official students landed in the Savoy capital at the Institute of Training and Application School.

In the splendid structure of the Arsenal Palace and with their first little star well sewn on the subordinates resume their studies in collaboration with the University of Turin.

"From here all the leaders of our Armed Forces have passed - says General Berto, commander of the Application School - here, they took their individual oath. Today they are in Rome at the General Staff or in key roles. I personally think I have a great responsibility on my shoulders but in the end the responsibility does not frighten us, we must take note of it! "

As the general says, "responsibility does not scare us!" Certainly does not frighten these young guys who tell a story made of many, many responsibilities.

The reality they live in is difficult, complex and articulated, they live divided between the university and the military world.

You will not find anything simple and comfortable here.

Personally, with these lieutenants I shared three years of my university career, and with my eyes, day after day, I saw that they pay in sonorous money all they have and will have.

I saw them experiment with subjects they would never have thought of studying, distant light years from their world of camouflage and march.

I saw them split between their world of rules, deadlines and discipline and my university world that imposes so many tight rhythms.

All this sums up normal daily worries - boyfriends, parents, friends - and try to manage them in ten minutes between one pause and the other.

Try to manage the fight with the girlfriend between a guard service and the political science exam.

Try being painful for a sick parent and having to concentrate on the lesson then running a 20km ride.

I have seen them, I have heard them and what they live, have lived and will live is anything but simple. After the first year in Turin and after completing the three-year degree, each officer will follow the master's course based on the tasks required of the weapon they belong to. The weapons of infantry, cavalry and artillery will attend - together with the civilians - Strategic and Political Organizational Sciences more based on political science and geopolitical analysis of the world. Having also obligations related to their role as military, intensive courses are scheduled every day for the subjects that characterize their work.

Instead, the weapons that have a technical-practical predisposition (genius, transmissions, tramat and police station) follow a more characteristic path based on the task that they will perform.

Seen and considered that the degree obtained by the military and civilians is comparable to any other Italian degree, the masterly path in this case also lasts two years and provides - as well as the three years - the drafting of a final paper in the assigned or chosen subjects.

Like civil students, the military can also propose innovative research projects for their thesis and receive the same commendations (Praise and dignity of the press) provided by the University of Turin.

International mobility is a crucial point that is taken into consideration by the Training Command.

The "Military Erasmus" project has been in operation for almost three years and sees official officers from various NATO military academies converging to Turin to attend intensive English language courses.

There are many issues touched on and concern the modernity and the most controversial aspects of the military sector.

A defined number of civilian students of the degree course who will contribute to the discussion on various topics are also invited to the project.

The constructive confrontation and being followed by teachers and international experts makes this project a moment of great personal growth for each student and opens his eyes to themes that are too often ignored.

For any of us, finishing a path that has forced us to make sacrifices and commitments is difficult, but for those who leave the application school, the future is much more complex. For them comes the fear of professional upheaval, the first moves and the first important tasks arrive.

Leaving Torino means starting to take charge of the degree that one brings, it means having the responsibility of young lives and young careers, it means the first missions and the first real confrontation with the life that will accompany them for the following decades.

It means becoming aware of being commanders of men, educated and shaped as an instrument of international politics.

The degree in Strategic Science is not perfect - as is no other degree course - but it is capable of giving you a break in the world we live in that no other university can give.

The symbiosis between civil students and military students is an excellent marriage that enriches the careers of each other.

They give a face to a trade often hidden behind the stereotype of the impassive uniform, they show that there are men and women of great courage and strength behind every camouflage. But most of all they show that the life of the soldier is not easy, that it is not enough to hold a rifle well to be a soldier, that we can all do, but to command and be commanders .. that's another story!

We civilians give a new vision, often more objective. We assess "civilian" the implications of the use of weapons and armies, a unique perspective in our country.

On 29 July 2015 for the lieutenants of the 192 ° Character course a new life as doctors of Strategic Sciences began. A road that will lead them to complicated decisions and sleepless nights, sacrifices, changes and many sacrifices. At the same time, however, it will give them the opportunity to experience and discover the world with eyes and perspectives that no one - or almost - will ever see.

In my five years at the School of Application I have seen and known many of the officers.

I saw and met their families that on graduation day, with the pride that shone in their eyes, buried deep in their hearts a new sense of fear for the future.

I saw grandmothers and grandparents who shone with a pride reborn for their grandchildren, not only officers and servants of the state, but educated and educated men and women.

I saw girlfriends and boyfriends who for a few days have put aside the worries that this trade involves to enjoy with their half an important goal within reach of both.

For eyes that want to go beyond banality and stereotypes, the Application School offers a window on a world that tells of lives divided between everyday life and camouflage. At Defense Online General Berto confides that today for his boys "the doors of the real world are opening and any door, even the one that does not yet know it exists, opens up to them.

When I was a young lieutenant I did not think that I would have seen the end of the opposition of the Western bloc with the Soviet one and instead I saw that and much more.

Kabul, Herat, we didn't even know where they were, they were exotic places. Today we have seen those and tomorrow who knows, everything can be ". To the new commanders of the Character course go the best congratulations from our editorial staff to prove that the best solution to every problem is often the suffered one and not necessarily the simplest one.

Good luck goes to the civilian students who have accompanied the attending officers for three years in this tortuous path and to whom a camouflage will always remind some military colleague around the world.

Maiora to all of you!

Denise Serangelo

(photo and interview Andrea Troncone)