Today in the military base of "Camp RS", Army Corps General Salvatore Camporeale assumed the role of Deputy Commander of the NATO Resolute Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan, at the end of the rotation ceremony with the outgoing Deputy Commander, Lieutenant General Richard John Cripwell, of the British Army.
The ceremony was held in the presence of the Commander of the Mission RS, the US Army General Austin Scott Miller, of the Senior Civilian Representative of NATO, Ambassador Cornelius Zimmermann, of the Italian Ambassador in Afghanistan, His Excellency Roberto Cantone and others civil and military authorities.
General Camporeale arrives in Afghanistan at a sensitive time for the country: last month, institutions, military forces and local police forces were engaged in ensuring security during the recent parliamentary elections, which called to vote more than 4 millions of people . And we are already preparing for the 20 April 2019 election, when the population will be called again to vote to elect the President of Afghanistan.
General Miller, during his speech, welcomed General Camporeale and thanked Italy for the role of absolute importance in the RS mission in recent years. "When I think of the Italian contingent - he said - I think of the great professionalism of these soldiers and the contribution they give for the accomplishment of the mission's task".
In his farewell address, General Cripwell thanked all the men and women of the Coalition for their excellent work, saying they were honored to have been their deputy commander.
In his speech, General Camporeale stressed that "one of the most important lessons we have learned is that lasting peace can not be imposed. But on the contrary, it must be a shared political, economic and diplomatic process that aims to conquer people's souls and hearts. "
He finally thanked the men and women of the 41 allied countries and Coalition partners who are courageously working for the success of the mission, and recalled the sacrifice of those who were killed or wounded to ensure that RS reached its goals, preventing that Afghanistan once again became a safe haven for terrorism.
Born the 20 in August 1962 and grew up in Margherita di Savoia (BT), General Camporeale attended the 162 ° "Honor" course of the Military Academy of Modena. Over the course of his career he has held various leadership positions, in wagon units, and staff at the Army and Defense summit organs. Among these: Commander of the 235 ° Volunteer Training Regiment of Ascoli Piceno, Military Assistant and Field Adjutant of the President of the Italian Republic, Commander of the Armored Brigade "Aries", Deputy Head of the V General Affairs Department at the Army General Staff and Commander of the Military Academy of Modena. Back in Afghanistan after a first experience in Kabul in 2009 in the ISAF mission.
Resolute Support is a NATO-led mission launched on 1 January 2015 at the end of the ISAF operation. Its purpose is to contribute to training, assistance e advice in favor of the institutions and the Security forces in order to achieve the creation of a state of law, credible and transparent institutions and, above all, of Security forces autonomous and well equipped, able to autonomously assume the task of guaranteeing the safety of the country.