This morning took place in the historic setting of Piazza del Plebiscito, in the presence of the Minister of Defense Elisabetta Trenta, the Chief of General Staff of the Defense Enzo Vecciarelli and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Army General Salvatore Farina , the ceremony of the 231 ° course of the Military School "Nunziatella".
Many civil, religious and military authorities took part in the event including the President of the Campania Region, Dott. Vincenzo De Luca, the Mayor of Naples, Dr. Luigi De Magistris, the Prefect Dr. Carmela Pagano and the Lieutenant Colonel Paglia, Gold Medal to the Military Valor. The 84 students, including 30 women, numerous Labarians of the Combattentist and Arma Associations, the Gonfaloni of the metropolitan city of Naples and the Campania Region, and the thousands of ex-pupils who came to stand around young jurors.
During the ceremony, the Minister of Defense, addressing the young students and students of the 231 course, immediately after giving the solemn oath of loyalty to the Republic, said that "the Nunziatella and the other military schools have the main purpose of training men and women for military life, but also that of preparing them for life and making them good citizens who can understand the needs of the people. Yours is a great privilege I hope you realize - added the Minister - because the Nunziatella is the military school par excellence, in whose classrooms, in 231 years of history, have grown and formed great personalities, who have contributed strongly to the progress of our country, distinguishing itself in the most disparate sectors of our society".
The Chief of Staff of the General Defense Vecciarelli, during his speech said "Dear students, the one that welcomes you is not a community made up of likes, hashtags and digital solitude, it is a community made up of men and women animated by feelings of authentic brotherhood, courage, honor and self-sacrifice for the institutions. The oath is the moment in which we commit ourselves to serve our country and our national community to which we are ready to give life".
The General of the Army Corps Farina - Chief of Staff of the Army - after thanking the authorities intervened, addressing the students said "today's ceremony consecrates a choice matured in you when, crossing the threshold of the Rosso Maniero, you are committed to devoting some of the most fervid years of your life to the love of country and to fidelity to the Institutions. With the path you have just undertaken, you are going to pursue values such as honor, discipline and sense of duty. Those same principles that have inspired and forged countless groups of students, as well as the conscious choice to move away from the comforts of life of your peers and the affections of your loved ones. I express my deepest gratitude to the members of the family because, in supporting your aspirations, they have entrusted the "Nunziatella" with the responsibility for your education and ethics, at a crucial stage in life. I thank you for the trust you have placed in the School and in the Army, and I can proudly tell you that we will make every effort to give you the best".
During the event the rite of the "delivery of the sword" took place, a gesture with which the maturing student traditionally invests the new student at the School as a "student".
This year the Oath took on particular importance in the celebrations for the centenary of the Victory of the Great War which, conquered under the orders of General Armando Diaz, of Neapolitan origins, saw among the protagonists of those historical events also numerous ex-students of the Nunziatella to whom eight gold medals were awarded to the Military Valor. At the entrance of the School was placed, in the 1920, a rock of Monte Grappa - "Monte Sacro alla Patria" - surmounted by an eagle and a flag, in memory of the 150 ex-pupils who fell during the First World Conflict.
The Military School "Nunziatella", founded the 18 November 1787 as Royal Military Academy, based on the hill of Pizzofalcone in Naples, in the historic building that housed it since its foundation, is one of the oldest military training institutes in Italy and of the world.
For the role played in the three centuries of activity "in the higher education sector, as an academic, social and economic engine for Italy and for all the Mediterranean countries linked to it", it was declared "Historical and cultural heritage of the del Mediterraneo ”, by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean. Since its origins, the school has been a place of high military and civil training, hence the motto "I prepare for life and arms", and has had among its professors and students personalities of high value, recognized both nationally and internationally.