The Alpini celebrate 150 years of history with a first event that took place in Turin at the headquarters of the Army Application School. This is the first of a series of events and “cultural, celebratory, training and sporting activities” that will accompany the black feathers – on duty and on leave – along a whole year of celebrations that will end on October 15 with a national event in Naples and will culminate with the National Gathering of the Alpini, which will be held between 5 and 8 in Rimini and San Marino.
On October 15, 1872, in Naples, Vittorio Emanuele II signed the Royal Decree which sanctioned the birth of the first mountain companies of the Royal Army, intended to defend the valleys on the borders of Italy. The first of a cycle is dedicated to this historical passage of conferences on the theme of the Alpini «guardians of memory, an example of solidarity», organized by the Alpine Troops Command of the Army and ANA, the National Alpine Association in synergy with the Interuniversity Center for historical-military studies and research.
The other stages of the cycle will be in Trento (in March), Brescia (April), Vicenza (June), Udine (July) and Teramo (September). The Army Chief of Staff sent a message to the Turin event: “150 years after their constitution, the Alpine Troops represent a fundamental component of the Army, rooted in its past and projected towards the future”. The General of the Army Corps Ignazio Gamba, Commander of the Alpine Troops, expressed his wish “to be able to regain moments of Alpine aggregation such as the National Gathering of Rimini-San Marino, but above all to experience a rich program of anniversaries and celebrations that will lead us to the important anniversary of the 150th anniversary of its foundation “, with the national president of ANA, Sebastiano Favero, who recalled how it will be a year historically rich in meaning for the Alpine future”.
In March, commemorative panels will be exhibited at the Palazzo Alti Comandi, headquarters of the Alpine Troops Command. The Alpine Army Troops, between 8 and 13 March, will give life in Sestriere to a training event that is inspired by the traditional exercise called “White Fox”, in April, in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Macugnaga (VB), a triathlon competition will be held. The traditional “Vertigo” exercise, dedicated to the military dimension of verticality, in September, in the Dolomites, will be structured over two weeks. In May and June, the Taurinense and Julia Alpine Brigades will organize Staff Ride activities, or historical-military reconstructions with a training cut, on the sites of some great battles.
Another highly symbolic event is the Ventimiglia-Trieste Relay which, carrying the torch of peace, symbolically lit during the 2018 National Gathering of Trento, will cover – between May and June – the entire Alpine arc (with an offshoot on the Abruzzo Apennines) and will be entrusted, in two tranches divided into dozens of stages, to hundreds of soldiers of the two Alpine Brigades Taurinense and Julia. in collaboration with the ANA Sections of the territories along the route.