The AM 2024 Calendar was presented at Palazzo Aeronautica. General Goretti: “We crossed the 100-year mark with an Air Force at the forefront of technology. In this year of “100+1”, the challenges of the present and future await us.”
It was presented on Thursday, 24 November, at Palazzo Aeronautica, in Rome, in the presence of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Force General Luca Goretti, the AM Calendar 2024.
“100+1”the name chosen for this new editorial project curated by the 5th “Communication” Department of the AM Staff to relive together the journey shared with Italians in 2023, a year the Armed Force dedicated to the celebrations of Centenary of its constitution.
In the year that is drawing to a close, the Air Force has indeed embarked on a “journey” full of events, organised throughout Italy, to tell its story by revisiting the past and showing citizens the Armed Force of today and its future objectives. This is where the desire to tell, through the images chosen for “100+1 AM 2024 Calendar”the most significant moments of a journey punctuated by events that have brought the Blue Army to the squares, beaches and most representative places in our country.
“The cover image of this calendar – he said Chief of Staff referring to the photo showing the Frecce Tricolori overflight of the city of Rome – physically represents the Air Force: a compact Armed Force that plays as a team, a national pride born from the passion and sacrifice of all personnel. One hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye, in this year of the ‘101 The challenges of the present and future await us, with an Armed Force that has, is, and always will make its natural and undisputed skills in the sector available to all those who aspire to operate in the third dimension. aerospace”.
“2023 will be remembered as a milestone in the history of the Air Force.”, he added General Goretti. “We celebrated this first Centenary with enthusiasm, pride and honour, sharing our journey with Italians and, at the same time, with the entire Defence sector and with key areas of civil society, scientific and academic research, culture, the aerospace industry and the information sector. We have reached the 100-year milestone with a technologically advanced Air Force, equipped with highly specialised professionals who, with the same pioneering spirit of the early years, are projecting themselves towards the future to continue to be relevant in a particularly challenging geopolitical context. Now we look to the future. In the coming year, we will be engaged abroad on various fronts: for example, we will be in United States and in Canada to represent, through the National Acrobatic Patrol, Italy in the world, and on that occasion, the Frecce Tricolori aircraft will also perform in Los Angeles, for the arrival of the Nave Vespucci, currently on a round-the-world trip, demonstrating that the Defence Force is cohesive and united even beyond national borders”Following this, the General reminded everyone of the upcoming flight to the International Space Station in January, with Colonel Walter Villadei, who is engaged with the Axiom Space's Ax-3 mission “Why – he concluded – We started with “Paper Wings” but we're ending up in space, as that's where we must and want to be. We need to train the young people of tomorrow so that they can keep up with technology, because the tools can be built and shaped but the mind must be able to soar in exactly the same way as technology, this is the challenge of tomorrow.”.
The Centenary Events
No AM Calendar 2024 Let's revisit an ideal journey that relives in the account of the most important initiatives that marked the celebration of the first 100 years of history of the Italian Air Force and which have helped to bring the citizens for whom it operates daily, 365 days a year, even closer to the Armed Force.
Dalla Show “Paper Wings”, hosted at the Historic Halls of Palazzo Aeronautica to describe, through posters and illustrations from the early twentieth century, the epic of two of the most incredible inventions of the last century, cinema and flight; at the Historical Symposium in the Hall of the Five Hundred at Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, the cradle of Italian culture, aiming to recall the knowledge of the principal figures who have brought prestige and impetus to the 100 years of the Armed Force; from Military ceremony on the Pincio terrace, on 28 March, sealed by an aerial fly-past of all Armed Forces aircraft over the city of Rome; at “Air Force Experience” air village”, set up in Piazza del Popolo with aircraft on static display, experiential paths, and informational and entertainment activities for citizens of all ages; from the Travelling exhibition “100 Years of the Italian Air Force” starting from the first stage in the Altar of the Flags within the Vittoriano complex, it then touched upon various prestigious locations across the entire peninsula, through a dedicated iconographic route that began with the origins and visions of the first theorists of air power towards the future; at the inauguration, in Guidonia (RM), of a museum exhibition route at the DSSE, Higher Division of Studies and Experiences, one of the very first and most advanced scientific research and development centres, on a global level, for trials on new aircraft, armaments and equipment; from the’AeroSpace Power Conference at the Nuvola di Fuksas, Rome, an international event dedicated to new technologies and future developments in the aerospace field; at the Aerial Display of Naval Practice (RM), an Air Show that, through the flight of still-operational historic aircraft and latest-generation planes, and the concurrent exhibition called “Field 100”to have an immersive experience with the Air Force, seeing firsthand the AM's capabilities at the service of the community, spanning past, present, and future; from the’Opening of MUSAM, the Historical Museum of the Italian Air Force (AM) in Vigna di Valle (Rome), with its renewed exhibition and, above all, its concept, capable of attracting younger generations more effectively through the use of cutting-edge technologies; to Multi-media exhibition “Growing Peace – Coltivare la Pace”, at the UN's Glass Palace (New York), which recounted 70 years of the Italian Air Force's participation in UN peacekeeping; from Sports activities national and international events such as the Rome Marathon, the Piazza di Siena International Showjumping Competition, the Ryder Cup golf tournament, and the Mille Miglia; to cinematic productions, including the RAI docufilm “I Cacciatori del cielo”, and the initiatives and editorial products, including two volumes dedicated to the Armed Force of yesterday and today, the 100-year Almanac, a special Panini sticker album, a captivating series of aeronautical comic books, commemorative coins, philatelic issues, and film productions by Rai Cultura, to tell who we were, what we represent today, and, above all, how we see our future; from Technical Scientific Symposium at the Air Force Academy in Pozzuoli, where leading experts gathered to discuss the topic of hypersonic capability development, at the Frecce Tricolori's acrobatic season, which, from May to November, flew over every Italian region as part of the Centenary initiative called “AM Embraces Italy”.
As every year, thanks to the collaboration with Giunti Editore, the distribution of the 2024 Calendar will take place through the widespread network of bookshops, with over 250 GIUNTI AL PUNTO outlets, making it available throughout Italy to enthusiasts and the wider public. The publishing project was promoted by Defence Services which, for some time now, has pioneered a new path for the appreciation of Armed Forces calendars to promote Defence culture.
The 2024 AM Calendar will also be available for purchase from the official Italian Air Force Amazon store. www.amazon.it/aeronauticamilitare
It's possible to rewatch the presentation of the Aeronautica Militare 2023 Calendar on the Aeronautica Militare Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYo5Aw5Dvp4
