The day dedicated to the Patron Saint of the Italian Air Force was also celebrated at the bases in Kabul, Herat and Shindand. The ceremony, officiated by Monsignor Giuseppe Moretti, Apostolic Nuncio to Afghanistan, was attended by all the military authorities present in the Afghan capital, including Major General Riccardo Marchiò, Deputy Commander ISAF Joint Command (DCOM IJC) and Italian Senior National Representative (IT SNR), who was warmly greeted by Brigadier General Vittorio Iannotta, Director Aviation Development Branch and the highest-ranking representative of the Air Force in the operational theatre.
During the ceremony, General Iannotta emphasised that the Armed Forces are among the main organisations deployed to safeguard freedom, and their presence in Afghanistan is justified precisely by its defence, so that the Afghans can be free to attend schools, to grow according to their needs and to believe in their own ideas and, above all, to be able to do all this in peace. At the end of his speech, General Iannotta invoked the Patroness, asking for freedom and peace for all peoples.
Also at Camp Arena in Herat, in the hangar of the Predator A belonging to the Astore Task Group, Mass was celebrated for the Feast of Our Lady of Loreto, officiated by the military chaplain, Captain Gianmario Piga. The ceremony, attended by a representative delegation of all the Armed Forces present, was organised by the Joint Air Task Force (JATF), based on the Italian Air Force and led by Colonel Alessandro De Lorenzo, and by the Aviation Battalion of the Italian Army Aviation (AVES), under the command of Colonel Livio Cianncarella. As a testament to the shared bond between aviators of the Italian Air Force and the Italian Army Aviation, Holy Mass concluded with the reading of the Airman’s Prayer and the Army Aviation Prayer. Finally, in Shindand, Colonel Luigi Casali, head of the Italian Air Force advisory team, attended the ceremony organised to celebrate Our Lady of Loreto, gathering his personnel around the image of the patron saint of the Italian Air Force.
