The Army, with around 20.000 soldiers, is engaged in Ferragosto in numerous operational activities, in Italy and abroad.
Almost 3.300 soldiers are engaged abroad, in 16 Countries, in missions under the auspices of the UN, EU and NATO, in activities of assistance to the Armed Forces and local security aimed at stabilizing international crisis areas and contributing substantially to the defense collective and security of the homeland.
About 7.000 soldiers guard the territory in 53 provinces distributed throughout the national territory, in competition with the Police, as part of Operation Safe Roads, contributing directly to the safety of the population. To date, the constant commitment of the Army soldiers has allowed the arrest of over 16.000 people, of which 260 since the beginning of the year, have checked and identified almost 3.500.000, about 120.000 this year alone, and kidnapped almost 2,4 tons of drugs. Moreover, since last year, the procedures for carrying out the surveillance services from static to more dynamic have been reconfigured, enhancing the peculiarities of the staff and ensuring even more evident results in deterrence, prevention and control of the cities.
In addition to the more than 10.000 soldiers engaged in ongoing operations, another 10.000 are added who are in a state of readiness for national and international coalition needs, for a total of about 20.000 soldiers.
Among these, particularly active in the summer period are the assets of the Army Aviation which, in competition with the Civil Protection, are engaged in the forest fire-fighting campaign and the assets Counter-UAV for anti-drone defense during major events, already used on various occasions such as the visit of the Holy Father to Camerino, that of the President of the Russian Federation in Rome or the closing ceremony of the Universiade in Naples.
The training level of the personnel of the units in operational readiness and of the highly specialized Departments is constantly solicited and improved with numerous national and international exercises with allied countries and friends in increasingly realistic scenarios, and in some cases implemented thanks to the use of simulation systems for the benefit of training as well as environmental protection and personnel safety.
Army Chief of Staff, Army Corps General Salvatore Farina, in addressing soldiers, their families and in particular their colleagues on duty "to those of you who will spend these days outside the borders, on our streets, in our barracks, far from the family affections, come, through me, the gratitude of the whole Armed Force. We, the Army, were there, we are there and we will always be there, even more, for the people and among the people, together with the other institutions for the defense, security, good and progress of Italy".