In this short article as a former complementary officer, I wanted to remember the AUC contribution to the Italian military system, a tribute which, in my opinion, has been forgotten too quickly, since the lever has been suspended and the courses abandoned.
The courses were much more than training training… I would define them as an unforgettable experience and the subsequent work in the departments a real training ground for life.
Who has not been "ours", unfortunately, can not understand what is felt and what has been shared. The testimony of this lies in the fact that, after many years, everyone remembers their course and every opportunity is favorable to find each other again. Sometimes a look is enough, a gesture of chivalry towards a lady or, in any case, a "weaker" to recognize who has attended an AUC course and lived the experience as an officer, even if only "first nomination".
The acquired experience facilitates, not a little, the subsequent insertion into the world of work in civil life which, unfortunately, but inexorably, becomes reductive for those who have shared "strong" experiences and believes and continues to profess certain values.
From here comes the desire, the search for opportunities to wear, even if only for a short period, the uniform, because even if life slowly weakens the flame, the latter will never go out completely. As someone said "We are officers and we will always be and we will always be honored to be able to wear our uniform".
Returning to the AUC courses, without going into the merits of why they were suspended, I simply want to say: Thank you !!!
Thanks to the Ministry of Defense for giving me this opportunity, thanks for giving me a training, even if small, military, thanks for letting me share the hunger, the heat, the thirst, the tiredness, with my classmates, thanks for making me grow in the department where I served.
I am sorry that many times in life outside of the military one, you can not find the same spirit of body and belonging. Because you can not work only for the salary (however important and decisive), because in life we must always grow and not stop.
The AUC course included in the Defense pictures, as officers, young people who, after the competition and the following course, arrived at the ward, where they had to suffer a devastating impact !!! Between conscripts and career, you had to roll up your sleeves - and how! - to assert one's own personality and to contribute advantageously to achieving the results of the Institution.
Naturally the formation of 5 - 6 months could not guarantee "to 360 degrees" the next departmental work. Thus, it was sometimes necessary to "improvise to achieve the goal", not to create further problems in the face of an order, but to look for the right solutions to complete the task. Willingness and hard work are the watchwords.
At the time, many things seemed absurd, but gradually the importance of everything that was done was understood and the subsequent experiences acquired contributed to their professional growth.
The emotional impact with the military reality marks you for life, so much so that many would have wanted to stay and others return, after the experiences in the civil work. Some have done it otherwise, but after many years, when we meet in rallies or demonstrations, the memory of those months spent together is always alive.
It is a pity that in our country there is no room for former people and we are often too quickly forgotten; sometimes the weapon associations represent almost a "thorn in the side", rather than a resource that the Defense can use and keep updated and trained in the military profession.
In the hope that something will change in this sense, I thank everyone for their attention.
(172 ° AUC - Ten. Bers.)
