Today is the centenary of the establishment of the Military Chemical Service and Army CBRN units. The centenary was celebrated with a ceremony held at the "Piave" barracks in Civitavecchia, headquarters of the 7th CBRN "Cremona" defense regiment.
CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) defense units historically descended from Lanciagas sections of the Royal Army which, following the effects of lethal chemical attacks suffered during the First World War, made it necessary to acquire a Military Chemical Service for experiments and studies aimed at the design of defense equipment. 100 years have passed since then and today the specialized CBRN units, equipped with advanced means and equipment and cutting-edge instruments, are able to intervene in many contexts.
The military ceremony, presided over by the commander of the Brigadier General Artillery Francesco Principe, saw the participation of the mayor of Civitavecchia, avv. Ernesto Tedesco, of the civil, military and religious authorities as well as of the combatant associations and of the Gonfalons of the cities of Civitavecchia and Santa Marinella, demonstrating the close proximity of the territory to the Army.
During the ceremony, the commander of the 7th CBRN regiment, Colonel Marco Baleani, awarded the qualification of "CBRN MERT Operator" to the personnel who successfully completed the training process. The MERT teams (Multirole Exploitation and Reconnaissance Team) represent a new professionalism fielded by the Army for operations to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and capable of intervening, in case of defense against CBRN attacks, in joint contexts , inter-agency and multinational.
