Bari, June 20, 2025 – The ceremony took place this morning at the military airport of Bari Palese. replacement of the leadership of the Air Force Schools Command/3rd Air Region (C.S.A.M./3rd R.A.) and the Bari Military Guard, Between Air Force Brigadier General Silvano Frigerio, outgoing Commander, and Air Force Brigadier General Francesco Vestito, incoming Commander. The event was presided over by Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squadron General Antonio Conserva, In the presence of the highest civil, military and religious authorities of the territory.
At the ceremony, the military band and the personnel of the C.S.A.M./3ª R.A., a representation of students from the Military Aeronautics Training Institutes, the flags of the institutions affiliated with the Air Force, an inter-branch representation of the Military Guard of Bari, the institutional banners and the flags of the Combatant and Armed Associations, testified to the strong bond with the community and with the history of the country.
After the review of the deployment by the Chief of Staff, the ceremony featured solemn and symbolic moments: the official speeches, the reading of the Agenda and the handover of responsibilities between the two senior officers, followed by the final intervention of General Conserva.
It General Frigerio, In his farewell speech, he wanted to thank the authorities who intervened. “…I will start with the city of Bari, which in recent years has become much more than just a service center: the more than one thousand days I spent here represented a fundamental stage in my professional life, during which I had the honor to represent the Italian Air Force and the entire community of the Military Presidio. Puglia and its capital constitute a point of reference for the important productive, cultural, and organizational peculiarities it possesses; a basin in which excellent expertise, ingenuity, and a desire to do well for the country are concentrated. In this context, the 3rd Air Region, present in Bari for more than ninety years, has always performed the institutional tasks assigned to it and has put its professionalism and expertise at the service of the community, to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens. General Frigerio then highlighted the extraordinary development of flight training programs integrated into university curricula that have combined academic excellence with military discipline and rigor. Furthermore, the process of updating the training programs has enabled the increase in the number of pilots trained and ready for operational deployment. “…The excellence of the entire Italian training chain has been formally recognized by the Air Education and Training Command of the US Air Force, which last March certified the full equivalence of our training process with that of the American one; and we are the only foreign nation to have been granted this “equivalence”! Today I believe that we can consider ourselves one of the leading aeronautical institutions in the fields of training and education; this result is due, indeed, to the “Vision” of the Armed Forces leadership, which in this sector has believed in, invested in, and continues to invest in, but above all to you, who have succeeded in transforming this “Vision” into reality and concrete facts through your daily work and commitment.”. And finally addressing his successor “…To General Vestido I leave a legacy made up of motivated, competent and prepared women and men who, under his wise leadership, will be able to carry forward — and improve upon — what has been achieved so far and to look beyond, launching new initiatives for the development of the assigned functions.”.
In the inaugural speech the General Dress, While expressing his most heartfelt thanks to the Head of S.M.A. for the prestigious assignment entrusted to him, he took the opportunity to outline his guidelines, emphasizing that “…My goal will be to continue and enhance the work of my predecessors – in particular General Frigerio – ensuring an excellent training that keeps pace with the technological and operational challenges of the future, with particular attention to cyber defense and advanced training, never neglecting ethics and team spirit, fundamental pillars of our training program.”And continuing “The Air Force already has the 5th generation in inventory and is preparing to build the 6th one, integrated into an interconnected system whose glue will be artificial intelligence. However, the real challenge is to identify, train and educate the human resource that will operate on this technology… The cybernetic and space spheres require human capital to be sought as soon as possible in young talents, transforming traditional teaching into gaming – play – to attract the curiosity and interest of the new generations.
Finally, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force took the floor, General Antonio Conserva that – after thanking the civil and military authorities present for their heartfelt participation – wished to emphasize the importance of the AM School Command as “…The provision of vital and strategic functions for the Armed Forces in the territory of Puglia: the selection and training of all personnel. The selection that guarantees the Armed Forces effectiveness, professionalism and resilience, selecting the most suitable human resources from our society to carry out the institutional tasks. While training is intended to ensure that personnel possess the skills and knowledge necessary to respond best to current and future challenges, operating within the value framework of the Air Force.” The Chief of Staff of the Air Force then continued by thanking General Frigerio for the excellent results achieved by the School Command over the past three years: “In 2024, for the first time, all the positions provided for by the main recruitment tenders were filled. In 2025, for the first time, and using innovative methods, the number of applications for recruitment to the Air Academy was higher than that of the other Armed Forces. In the biennium 2024-2025, to cope with the increase in recruitments, more than 3,500 recruits were guaranteed annually, managing over 22,000 applications and evaluating more than 10,000 candidates. Finally, in synergy with the industrial world, the International Flight Training School reached full maturity. Since 2022, it has produced more than 1,400 graduates, from 12 foreign countries, compared to the initial 6. This success is recognized internationally.” At the conclusion of his speech, addressing the new Commander: “I greet and extend my best wishes to General Vestito for the new challenging assignment, which allows him to leverage the experiences he has gained as Director of the Directorate of Human Resources for Military Personnel in his role as the head of the command responsible for selecting and training personnel, a continuum in different functional areas, in the management of human resources.”.
The event concluded with the final honors and the release of the Flags, Flags of Honor and Labari, as well as the signing of the Honor Roll by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, sealing a moment of significant institutional value for the Air Force.
During the morning, General Frigerio and General Vestito went to the Military Cemetery of the Fallen of the Far Abroad in Bari where – as the outgoing and incoming Commander of the Military Guard – they laid a wreath of laurel in honor of the fallen.
The ceremony represented not only a handover of responsibilities between two senior officers, but also a moment of reflection on the strategic role that selection, training and education play in building an Armed Forces that is up to the challenges of the present and the future.
