In the year that ended, the Italian Army guaranteed its commitment in all operations under the aegis of the UN, NATO and EU to which Italy contributes, at the same time confirming its presence on the national territory through the "Safe Roads" operation, aimed at guaranteeing the safety of the major Italian metropolitan areas. In addition to the more than 20.000 soldiers employed during the year, there are an additional 8.400 always available to the Nation, trained and ready to be employed wherever there is need.
As part of the International Missions, the Army maintained the Command of Operations in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Kosovo and Somalia where the commands of the large combat units at the Brigade level of the Italian Army alternated.
In particular, a few days ago the "Ariete" armored brigade assumed command of the contingent in Afghanistan, alternating the "Pozzuolo del Friuli" brigade, while the "Grenadiers" brigade, taking over the "Aosta" brigade, has been responsible for this sector's fall west of the Italian-led Unifil mission in Lebanon.
In Iraq, Somalia, Mali and Niger, units and specialized personnel of the Armed Force have trained local security forces while in Kosovo where, moreover, Italy since 2013 holds the leadership of the NATO-Kfor mission, which has been operating since mid-December 17 ° "Sforzesca" anti-aircraft artillery regiment.
The Army is also engaged in 54 cities with the "Safe Roads" operation, operating jointly with the police forces in the fight against crime and terrorism, through mobile patrols and surveillance of fixed sites of particular interest.
From 1 January 2019 to today, with over 230.000 checks on people and vehicles, a total of about 420 people have been arrested; more than 800 individuals were arrested and around 1.900 were reported on the loose; over 610 vehicles, 83 weapons and 90 kilos of drugs seized. In this context, Italian soldiers also make a valuable contribution to the fight against environmental crimes in Campania with the "Terra dei Fuochi" operation.
In 2019, the bomb squads of the engineering departments carried out 2.000 explosive ordnance reclamations and war residues (over 32.000 in the last 10 years) including some of considerable complexity within metropolitan cities with strong urbanization (Battipaglia, Bolzano, Turin and Toast).
The Army also intervened on the occasion of emergencies caused by bad weather, in particular in Pisa, through the rapid deployment of men and vehicles, the flood of the Arno River was contained. Thanks to the specialist skills of the Army Special Forces sector, it was possible to safely proceed with the demolition of the Morandi bridge and thus facilitate the reconstruction of the new structure in the city of Genoa. Since this winter, the Alpine rescue teams have been employed on the ski slopes of the Alps and the Apennines to guarantee the safety of skiers and hikers.
Strong impetus has met the project «Green barracks - for an avant-garde army in a modern country», According to which the construction and reconversion of the pre-existing bases in large modern infrastructures, equipped with leisure spaces, also available for the civilian population throughout the national territory, is envisaged.
Particular attention was also paid to staff, expanding internal communication, through the use of the most popular IT tools (E-Info app and Army Radio) and verifying the satisfaction of the place of employment through individual fact-finding surveys on a sample of about 52.000 military.
A constant commitment, characterized by the marked versatility of the soldiers of the Italian Army, able to operate with very short notice times both on the national territory in support of the population in case of emergencies of all kinds, and abroad in contexts and in complex scenarios which require deep preparation and constant training. The Army, a strong and cohesive institution, always at the service of citizens, in full respect of the motto "We are always there".