Day of celebration at the Bolzano airport, where 20 / 05 / 2016 was held today, in the operational area of the 4 Army Regiment "Altair", the military ceremony on the occasion of the forty-year regiment.
The celebration of the 40 years of the 4 Army Regiment "ALTAIR" began with the deposition of a crown at the monument to his fallen, to commemorate those who lost their lives in service, also remembering the fallen of the units from the which the regiment originated.
A military ceremony followed, attended by the highest civil and military authorities of the Province, including the government commissioner for the province of Bolzano, prefect Elisabetta Margiacchi, the extraordinary commissioner for the city of Bolzano, prefect Michele Penta and the councilor of the municipality of Laives dott.sa Claudia Furnari. Many military authorities, who with their presence wanted to witness the attachment to the regiment such as the commander of the Alpine troops, general of army corps Federico Bonato, the commander of the Army Aviation Brigade, Colonel Arrigo Arrighi (photo) and the provincial commanders of the carabinieri, Colonel Stefano Paolucci and the finance guard. The ceremony was also attended by 80 students from the “G. GALILEI ”of Bolzano to underline the link between past and future.
Under the command of the 19 commander, Colonel Pier Luigi Verdecchia, the banner and the men and women of the 4 Army Aviation Regiment "Altair" have lined up, in front of the helicopters of the department that on display in the square, have completed the frame of the event.
The commander, during the ceremony, was able to underline that he did not want to take for granted the one that today represents the ALTAIR, recognizing to those who preceded the staff in service today, commitment, professionalism, generosity, style military, experience, courage and sacrifice for which the debt of gratitude has been renewed.
He also indicated how over the years the changes that the armed force and the Army Aviation have had to remain adherent to the tasks and missions of the Army, has remained intact over the years the love and passion of the staff of 4 °Altair, as well as the attachment to their helicopter, the AB205 protagonist in four decades of 165.000 flight hours carried out in favor of the population at home and abroad.
In linking the memories of the past and the present, the 40th anniversary was an opportunity to bring together the men and women of the regiment who served in the 40 years of life of the "Altair", who gathered in Bolzano for the 1 ° national gathering organized byNational Aviation Association of the Army of Bolzano, which takes its name from the department.
The regiment, since its constitution in the 20 January 1976, when all the flight units employed by the IV Alpine Army Corps were collected under one command, almost all major natural disasters have been used in rescue missions to the civilian population, and its banner boasts of 5 silver medals for civil valor and 1 silver cross of merit of the Army.
The unit, primarily aimed at turning support to the Alpine troops throughout the Alps, is organized on two squadrons groups, the 54 ° "Cefeo" squadron group based in Bolzano, and the 34 ° "Toro" squadron group on base of Venaria Reale.
The department has always represented the national reference for mountain flying that requires special skills and abilities. The flight crews of the "ALTAIR" are in fact trained to plan and conduct flight missions in conditions that often lead helicopters to be used at the limit of their technical capabilities, in a complex environment such as high altitude mountain flight. , as the motto of the regiment "nec aspera nec ardua coela timeo" (I don't fear dangerous or stormy skies).
The skills and professionalism of the department have also been demonstrated in numerous missions in various operational theaters such as in Namibia and Mozambique, in the Balkans, and more recently in Afghanistan.
These capabilities have meant that the department's structures can also be used in the event of public disasters and in search and rescue operations in mountain environments where they are able to be able to intervene even at night.
