The 'Italian Pentagon', a single center for the Armed Forces in Rome-Centocelle, is an ambitious project that the Ministry of Defense believes in and for which it is aiming a lot. The activities and projects have always been shared with Roma Capitale and the municipalities to reconcile the needs of rationalization of the Defense with those of a redevelopment of the area. A functional project that aims to rationalize resources and above all functions. But in Italy when you want to do something innovative and that can save public money, the political part that raises problems is immediate, usually the adverse part. The deputies of the Democratic Party Antonino Moscatt and Roberto Morassut made a written question to the Ministry of Defense headed by the Minister of the Democratic Party, Roberta Pinotti. The findings are focused on the environmental impact and on the fear that the interventions were not shared with citizens. The Dicastery's response was immediate: "the creation of further accesses to the military district of Centocelle is part of a project - the Undersecretary of Defense Gioacchino Alfano replied - which envisages, in particular, the centralization of the bodies of the Defense Summit, characterized by functionality, economy and low environmental impact. The plan in question also provides for the involvement of local administrations in the drafting of a program agreement for the contextual recovery and development of the Centocelle Park which, in addition to seeing increased security by virtue of the increased presence of the Defense, would also benefit from interventions in archaeological, historical and environmental field. Contacts have already been initiated with the administrations, reports the Defense, and a meeting was held on XNUMX September last in which the ministry asked to convene an inter-institutional technical table. Contacts are also underway with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, through the Superintendency. The 'Italian Pentagon' would rise in an area that was the seat of the first Italian airport, named after the aviation ace Francesco Baracca - which already hosts the Joint Chief Operating Officer (COI), that is the defense structure that manages all operations 'out of area', the Joint Force Command for Special Forces Operations (COFS), the Italian Joint Force Headquarters (IT-JFHQ) and the Italian Operational Headquarters of the European Union.
We hope that the ambitious project will not encounter further obstacles. Saving public money, rationalizing the functions of the Defense, deconcentrating the historic center of Rome of all those soldiers who now work in the ministries and above all redeveloping an area south of Rome also encouraging the armature, while respecting the environment are objectives common to not slow down.
By Emanuela Ricci