The event was presided over by the Commander of the Air Force, General S.A. Lodovisi. During the sober ceremony held at the Officers“ Club, the General of the Air Brigade Aurelio Colagrande, Head of the Planning and Logistics Support Department of the State Majorities Command of the C.S.A., was awarded the Medaglieconiate by the State Mint, together with nine other military personnel, an Officer Superior and eight Sub-Officers from the Departments of the C.S.A. in the Rome area and under the same High Command, who, during their long career, have rendered honorable service and garnered testimonials of esteem. The Chief of Staff of the CAA, Brigadier General Claudio Gabellini, the Commander of the Forces for Mobility and Support and the 1st Special Operations Air Brigade, Brigadier General Roberto Comelli, the Commander of the Centocelle Airport/General Headquarters and, representing the Association that safeguards the social and cultural values linked to the aforementioned award, the Vice President of the National Association ”Nastro Verde”, General (GdF) Fausto De Nuntiis, as well as the Pro-Tempore Commissioner of the Rome Section, Lieutenant (CC) Salvatore Veltri, also took part in the event.
The ceremony began with a speech by General Lodovisi, who greeted the guests present and the officers to whom he expressed his personal satisfaction for the commitment shown and the results achieved during his long military career. The Commander of the Air Force also highlighted that the award conferred represents an important recognition that the Armed Forces pay out, with particular attention, to those who have led exemplary careers for their commitment to service and their spirit of selflessness, demonstrating professional and human qualities of great importance. The “Mauriziana Medal for Military Merit of Ten Years” was established with the Royal Magistral Letters on July 19, 1839, and, with Royal Decree 21 December 1924, the text of the single rules and provisions for its granting were approved. In particular, Law No. 203 of May 7, 1954 changed the name from “Maurizian Medal for Military Merit of Ten Years” to the current one of “Maurizian Medal for Merit of Ten Years in Military Career”, establishing the new rules for the conferment of the decoration, proposed by the Minister of Defense and with a Decree of the President of the Republic. The extension of the possibility of granting the decorations to Second Lieutenants of the Army, Navy and Air Force was sanctioned by Law No. 1327 of November 8, 1956 and subsequent amendments, defining the current criteria for evaluating periods for the calculation of ten years of military service.
