The ceremony commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the "Sirio" 2 Air Force Regiment was held at the "Carmine Calò" barracks.
In the presence of the prefect of Catanzaro, Dr. Luisa Latella, the bishop of Lamezia Terme, Monsignor Luigi Cantafora and the mayor, lawyer Paolo Mascaro, the demonstration began with the deployment of the regiment's departments and banner. The surrender of honors to the fallen represented the most significant moment of the day. At the monument, enriched by a sculpture made and donated by a regimental soldier, a crown was placed on the notes of "silence".
Godmother of the ceremony was Mrs. Mariotto, mother of Andrea, an officer in the Army Aviation, who died tragically in the 1995 in a flight accident. At the end, the commander of the 2 ° "Sirio", Colonel Luigi Sambin, greeted those present, expressing gratitude for the closeness of the population to the department and emphasizing the centrality of man in the multiple activities carried out by the regiment, in the more general framework of the tasks of the Army as a resource for the country.
The event was also attended by Army Military Command of Calabria, theNational Aviation Association of the Army, the local Inspectorate of the Red Cross volunteer nurses and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
The 2 Air Force Regiment of the "Sirio" Army was established on the basis of Lamezia Terme the 3 October 1996. It currently consists of two flight groups: the 30 group "Pegaso" in the same location and the 21 group "Orsa Maggiore" in Cagliari.
Over the years, the various flight groups that have composed it have taken part in important operations, both nationally and internationally. The banner of the regiment is decorated with a Silver Medal for the Value of the Army, for its contribution to the natural disasters that struck Campania and Basilicata in the 1980.
The main tasks are to support the operational activity of the land units and the Civil Protection competition.
From the 2008 the regiment is engaged in Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, where with personnel and helicopters it guarantees air support to the multinational contingent "UNIFIL" (United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon).
La Task Force "Italair" (this is the name that the flight unit of the Italian Army takes on in the Middle East operating theater), which took over with a helicopter squadron the 3 July of 1979, is the most long-lived department operating in Lebanon under the aegis of the Nations United. The Army Air Force Command coordinates the composition of the Task Force, whose preparation is by the 2 ° "Sirio" regiment.
