The Alpine Army Troops have today completed 150 years of life in the service of the country and the community, celebrating the anniversary in the heart of Naples, where on October 15, 1872 King Vittorio Emanuele II signed decree no. 1056, which formed the first fifteen Alpine companies. Since then, the Italian mountain soldiers, destined for the defense of the Alps, grew rapidly in number and were organized into battalions and regiments which - over a century and a half - would have participated in the front line in all the main military campaigns, as well as in the operations of aid to populations affected by natural disasters.
They were lined up in Piazza del Plebiscito, with the Royal Palace in the background, where the Corps originated, all the War Flags of the Alpine departments and with an Alpine vocation, the Labaro dell 'National Alpine Association (ANA), on which 209 Gold Medals for Military Valor awarded to members of the Corps are pinned, and three companies in arms, respectively of the 9th Alpine regiment of L'Aquila (brigade Taurinense), 8th regiment alpini stationed in Venzone (Julia brigade) and del Alpine Training Center of Aosta, together with an appropriate representation of the Civil Protection and the field hospital of the ANA.
Numerous institutional offices attended the ceremony, which took place in the presence of the Defense Chief of Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone and the Chief of Staff of the Army Corps General Pietro Serino. Present were the dean of the Alpini on duty, general of the army corps Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, the commander of the Alpine troops, general of the army corps Ignazio Gamba and the president of theNational Alpine Association Sebastiano Favero, as well as the civil, military and religious authorities of Campania and Naples and the families of the Alpini who died in service. Thousands of retired “black feathers” from all Italian regions colored the square with “green” - the color of the Corps badges - with their banners and pennants, representing the 340 members of the ANA.
At the end of the ceremony, punctuated by the music of the fanfare of the brigades Julia e Taurinense and from the reading of the Alpino prayer, after the official speeches, the homage from the Frecce Tricolori, which flew over Piazza del Plebiscito twice.
The Chief of Defense Staff, in his speech, said: "I am particularly proud of this occasion, being myself the son of an Alpine and having a son in my turn in the Alpine troops. For 150 years we have seen the Alpine troops write history and embed it with precious gems of heroism. Having been commander of the IOC I can say that visiting the missions abroad, wherever the Alpine troops have passed, words of absolute applause are spent by the allied countries: this has always made me particularly proud, in gathering the glory of the Alpine troops around the world and what they concretely demonstrated on the field."
The Army Chief of Staff, in the course of his speech, highlighted: "I consider it a great honor to be able to thank on behalf of the Army, all the Italian Alpine troops who, in these 150 years have served their homeland, in uniform and in the ranks of the National Alpine Association". General Serino then added: “Being a Soldier is hard, doing it in the high mountains and in extreme climates is much more so. Yet your job, as Mountain Soldiers, you do it flawlessly. Thanks, we are proud of you. Happy 150th! "
Subsequently, the commander of the Alpine Troops intervened: “The long history of the Alpini is the story of a serious and generous commitment to the service of Italy, in national and international military operations and on the emergency front. The characteristic of the Alpini today as a century and a half ago remains the ability to live, move and fight in the mountains and in Arctic climates, which we have just tested in a large international exercise involving 1500 Alpini. Today the Alpine Troops are made up of men and women who come from all regions of the country and are one of the excellences of the Italian Army, and are deployed on the international security front with a contingent currently operating in Hungary on the eastern flank of NATO " .
