Over three hundred soldiers of the Alpine troops of the Army today opened the final parade of the 96th Alpine Gathering of Biella, first paying homage to the political, civil and military authorities - in attendance were the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, the Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto, the Undersecretary Isabella Rauti, the Chief of Staff of the Army, General Carmine Masiello - and to the Labarum of theNational Alpine Association, on which are pinned 209 individual Gold Medals for Military Valor awarded in the history of the corps.
To the tune of the Alpine Brigade Fanfare Taurinense – the 3rd Alpine Regiment of the Alpine Brigade took the lead Taurinense, with two companies in combat uniform, preceded by the war flag, among the most decorated in the Army.
The history and tradition of the Alpini can be summed up through three of the ten honors that are part of the medal collection of the 3rd regiment. The most important is the silver medal earned in the First World War by the men of the Susa battalions (still operational today) and Exilles, who on June 16, 1915 conquered Monte Nero with a coup de main, a peak considered impregnable.
The tricolour of the Pinerolo Alpine troops was also awarded a bronze medal deserved in the war of liberation of the country, in 1943-44, fighting with valor against the Nazis in the Apennines, and a cross of merit for the generosity shown in the relief efforts to the populations hit by the earthquake that devastated Messina and Reggio Calabria in 1908.
Following this, a company from the "Solarolo III" course paraded. Alpine training center of Aosta, made up of the youngest of all those who actively took part in the Biella Rally.
With an average age of around twenty years, the 144 aspiring Alpine troops have just begun basic military training with an individual combat training program combined with a basic skiing course in the Aosta Alps.
At the end of Integrated module of the Alpine troops, each of the attendees who have completed the twelve-week course will receive an Alpine hat from a member of theNational Alpine Association during a solemn ceremony.
The drum battery of the Teulié Military School of Milan also paraded through the streets of Biella for the Army. This musical formation is commanded by a mace bearer and is made up of final-year students who marched in their historic uniforms, distinguished by cords whose color is associated with the instrument used.
In the days preceding the parade, the Alpine troops of the Army set up the Alpine Citadel, an exhibition space of twenty thousand square meters inside the "Alpini d'Italia" Gardens of Biella, inaugurated on Friday by the commander of the Alpine troops, Gen. D. Michele Risi together with the president of the ANA Sebastiano Favero and the local institutions.
Divided into 25 stands visited by 200 thousand people, the exhibition path developed along the lines of development of the Armed Forces; technology, training and values. Over 150 soldiers interactively illustrated to the public the latest generation vehicles and equipment in service with the infantry, artillery, engineering and cavalry regiments of the Taurinense and Julia Alpine brigades. Also present at the Citadel were the Cleaning of the 4th Alpine Parachute Regiment, the 2nd Alpine Transmissions and an AB 205 helicopter of the 34th Army Aviation Squadron and a stand of theMilitary Geographical Institute.
New to this edition is technology - with the robots and drones of the 9th cyber security regiment "Rombo" - and the military biathlon organised by the Alpine training center, inserted in the island dedicated to the youngest also including a info point for the promotion of recruitment, the fitness area and a large area dedicated to the youngest on the theme of mountain sports, with a Tibetan bridge, climbing wall and cross-country ski track.
The Citadel also included a station where it was possible to climb aboard and try out the BV206 snow tracked vehicle supplied to the Alpine troops and the VTLM armoured vehicle. LynxThe history, values and traditions of the Corps have been proposed by the National Historical Museum of the Alpini of Trento and recalled by the performances of the Fanfares of the brigades Taurinense e Rainbow wrasse at the Citadel, which was animated by the programs of Radio Esercito, operating with its own stand.
