On Thursday 16 June, the ceremony took place at the Air Force Volunteer Cadet School in Taranto, in the presence of General D.A. Cormìo. Against the picturesque backdrop of Taranto’s Idroscalo – the School’s headquarters – 300 cadets, including 37 women, who had been successful in the public competition for enlistment in the AM for 600 one-year VFP cadets in 2011 (1st Intake). Present at the ceremony were civil, military and religious authorities, the banners of the Ionian Province and the City of Taranto, the banners of the Combatants‘ and Service Branches’ Associations, as well as a large audience of around two thousand spectators, consisting mainly of the cadets‘ family members, who had travelled from all over Italy to share in this moving event. The School Commander, Colonel Raimondo D’Andria, in his address prior to the recitation of the oath, emphasised how every citizen wearing the epaulettes ’is fully aware of the importance of serving the country, in defence of the ideals of freedom, peace and democracy set out in our Republican Constitution, which, on the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, take on a unique and indisputable significance‘. The ceremony was then sealed by the momentous collective declaration of ’I swear!“, followed by the moving rendition of Mameli’s National Anthem by the entire graduating class to the strains of the Fanfare of the Air Force Schools Command/3rd Air Region, and the recitation of the ”Aviator’s Prayer“ by a young female cadet. In his address, General Cormìo, speaking directly to the young cadets – ”the true protagonists of this day‘ – urged them to fully embrace this pivotal moment, through which they had ’responsibly undertaken the commitment to serve in the ranks of the Air Force with dedication, loyalty, honesty and generosity – indispensable founding values for a member of the armed forces. The oath,‘ added General Cormìo, ’will from today form part of your very being and guide your future, both within and outside this School.” The ceremony for the oath of allegiance to the Fatherland marks the conclusion of the first phase of the new training programme through which cadets on fixed-term service are trained as military personnel. This phase will be followed by a specialisation phase, which will enable the cadets to acquire a more comprehensive technical and professional grounding, preparing them to tackle the various operational realities of the units to which they will be assigned upon completion of their time at the Taranto School. The SVTAM is currently the only national centre for the basic training of Air Force enlisted volunteers. Its current tasks are to organise the competitive selection process, the induction and the initial military training of one-year Fixed-Term Volunteers (VFP-1), who join the Armed Forces through a public competitive selection process. The School also runs training courses for Volunteers on a four-year fixed-term contract (VFP-4) and for enlisted personnel who, upon completion of their fixed-term service, transition to Permanent Service (VTSP), from which every Air Force unit and department is staffed. Finally, since 2010, the Taranto School has been one of three national training centres for theoretical and practical training courses at Italian Air Force units, as part of the Ministry of Defence’s initiative entitled ‘Experience the Armed Forces: Be a Soldier for Three Weeks’, better known as ‘Mininaja’.
