The ceremony was presided over by the Commander of the Schools A.M./ 3rd R.A., General S.A. Girardi
The ceremony, held in the presence of the highest religious and civil authorities of Viterbo and the Province, was presided over by the Commander of the Schools/3rd Air Region of Bari, Air Force General Franco Girardi. Also present was the M.A. Band that marked the key moments of the ceremony. Colonel Coppola leaves his position as Commander of the M.A. Marshal School and of the Viterbo Airport as he is assigned to the position of Defence Attaché at the Italian Embassy in Australia. In his speech, after thanking the staff of the Department and all the different entities that offered their collaboration in various ways during his period of command, he outlined the main milestones achieved that have contributed “to build a modern and efficient Department that has become a center of excellence in the landscape of the Departments of the Armed Forces” . Colonel Coppola declared himself to be”We are proud to have contributed effectively to rethinking and rewriting the future educational and professional growth of the role of Marshals, the true backbone of the military organization. It took courage to achieve these goals, and my staff had that courage. We aimed for excellence, and this is the standard that you all must uphold and improve in the future to continue to provide concrete support to the Armed Forces and the Defense in the dual mission we have been assigned: as a Training Institute and as a military airport.”. Colonel Rovazzani has identified his goals for the near future: “The first one earns the trust and esteem of all the staff of the Marescialli School/Airfield Command, as by achieving this the three fundamental elements of a command, Flag, Commander and Detachment, can truly be considered a single identity worthy of those who preceded us and who gave their lives with honor and a sense of duty […]. The second is to continue the growth, in terms of quality, of the personnel trained and updated in this Institute. Colonel Rovazzani closed his speech by quoting his motto, taken from the Nobel Prize laureate for literature Josè Saramago:, “We are not what we say, we are the credit they give us, meaning that in words we can pretend to be anything, but the facts are the true generators of creditors”. The Commander of the Schools A.M./3rd R.A. highlighted the significance of today’s ceremony that “It implies the fundamental principle of the military institution: continuity in change; an organizational principle that, through the constant exchange of physical and intellectual energy, guarantees the ability to manage the present and to prepare effectively to face the challenges of the future without interruption.”. General Girardi then highlighted some of the results achieved by Colonel Coppola during his period of command, in particular the initiation of projects in coordination with the University of Tuscia and the “La Sapienza” University of Rome aimed at creating new and complex training courses, the design and construction of the Leonardo educational center, and the excellent relations with the Air Force agencies operating at the base. All of this has enabled the Department to achieve and renew its image. After confirming his trust in the incoming Commander, the School Commandant addressed the personnel of the Department, highlighting their great professional skills and aptitude to fulfill duties and tasks that are decidedly complex. Colonel Eugenio Rovazzani comes from the Normal Courses of the Air Academy, where he attended from 1983 to 1987, taking the “Centauro IV” course. It is authorized on SIAI 208, SF 260, MB 339 aircraft and on AB47 G2, AB212, HH3F helicopters. It has over 3000 flight hours to its credit, of which approximately 150 in war zones.
He held the positions of Commander of the 288th Squadron, Chief Operations Section of the 85th Combat SAR Group, Chief Operations Office of the 15th Air Wing, and Commander of the 85th CSAR Group.
In 2001 he graduated from the ISSMI after completing the 4th Course, at the end of which he was assigned to the 4th Logistics Department of the Air Force General Staff, where he held the position of Head of the Helicopters and Training Aircraft Section until 2008 when, promoted to Colonel, he was assigned to the General Staff of the Air Force Command of Rome Centocelle as Deputy Head of the Operations Office and subsequently as Head of the A3 Office. Since October 2011 he has been Commandant of the Courses and Deputy Commandant of the Marshal School of the Air Force and of the Viterbo airport.
He participated, as a Combat Ready pilot, in national rescue missions including the 2000 Piedmont flood and the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake, where he also held the position of Commander of the Air Task Force and Commander of the Airport of Preturo. Internationally, he was deployed as a Combat Ready pilot in Somalia in 1993, in Albania and Kosovo in 1999 and in Iraq in 2005, where he held the position of Head of Inter-Service Air Operations.
