ISAF end-of-service ceremony in Solbiate Olona

11/02/14

Yesterday morning, at the “Ugo Mara” barracks in Solbiate Olona (VA), in the presence of the Undersecretary of Defense, Honorable Gioacchino Alfano and the Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Luigi Binelli Mantelli, the ceremony of return from the Afghanistan of the NATO Commander Rapid Deployable Corps Italy (NRDC-ITA), General of the Armed Forces Giorgio Battisti, and of the contingent of the international staff.

Since January 2013, for a year, about 280 soldiers of the NATO Rapid Reaction Army Corps Command in Italy have been employed in Kabul, as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission, in which General Battisti he held the position of Chief of Staff, a fundamental role in coordinating the forces of the international coalition made up of the Armed Forces of 50 countries from around the world.

The ceremony was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Army, Army Corps General Claudio Graziano, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), Army Corps General Philippe Stoltz, the Commander of the Territorial Operating Forces General of the Armed Forces Roberto Bernardini, and the mayor of Solbiate Olona, Mr. Salvatore Luigi Melis.

In his speech, Battisti Army General emphasized that the staff of NRDC-ITA stood out for their professionalism and commitment during the mission and thanked the Mayors and the citizens of the Municipalities of Valle Olona for their constant support.

The Commander of NRDC-ITA also addressed a particular and heartfelt thanksgiving to the families of the fallen, who endure an immeasurable pain with dignity. The Undersecretary of Defense, the Honorable Alfano, reiterated how the staff of NRDC-ITA has operated in Afghanistan with competence and versatility, the result of intense commitment and unanimously recognized professionalism.

Even the Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Binelli Mantelli, recalled the precious support of the families of the staff involved in the mission, and urged the staff to make the same commitment in the next challenge of NRDC-ITA: the establishment of a Joint Task Force Headquarters (JTFHQ).

The Army Chief of Staff, Army Corps General Graziano stressed that the mission in Afghanistan is the most complex and difficult in which NATO is committed. If the Afghan Armed Forces can now assume full responsibility for the security of the their country is due to the commitment of all allied forces.