The handover of the command to Gen. B. Baldacci was presided over by Gen. Valente, Commander of the Institute of Military Aeronautical Sciences
The ceremony was attended by the highest civil, religious and military authorities of the city, including Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, the Prefect of Florence, Dr. Luigi Varratta, and the Councilor for Education Rosa Maria Di Giorgi.
After two years of Command, General Baldacci, retracing some fundamental milestones of his mandate, recalled that “All the students have brilliantly completed their three-year educational and formative cycle in order to access, in about 50% cases, all the military academies or to continue their studies at university level. This results in being among the top ranked both in the military field and in the most prestigious national and foreign universities.”Subsequently, addressing the students, General Baldacci emphasized that “You are the future of our Nation; it needs capable, hardworking and honest people who will make us believe again, grow and dream of a better Italy.”.
The passing of the Flag from the hands of General Baldacci to those of General Valente and subsequently to that of Colonel Icardi sealed, in a symbolic and significant way, the successful assumption of Command of the School.
In his speech, Colonel Icardi, addressing the Douhet students, emphasized that “To reach great goals, a generous investment of physical and mental energy is necessary.” – adding then – “We ask you for dedication, consistency and will, and we offer you the opportunity to experience the challenges of the military educational model to make you a well-educated, respectful, prepared, and self-confident young person in any environment—in short, an excellent citizen.”.
General Valente, after greeting and thanking General Baldacci for his commitment and offering his best wishes for fruitful work to Colonel Icardi, focused on the objectives of the School and in particular on the concept of education as “bread of the soul”encouraging the students to have courage and confidence in themselves, believing that life is “It is not a 100-meter race, but an extraordinary marathon where, to reach the finish line, merit is required, not cunning and shortcuts; it requires commitment and not apathy; it requires intelligence and strategy and not wishful thinking; it requires careful preparation and not superficiality.”.
Colonel Icardi was born in Grosseto on July 30, 1966 and attended the Air Academy with the “Falco IV” course.
Qualified as a navigator at the American Base of Mather (California), from 1992 to 2007 he performed his operational duties on Tornado aircraft of the 6th Stormo of Ghedi (BS), accumulating approximately 2000 hours of flight time.
Appointed to training/operational tasks in Italy and abroad, including the command of the autonomous flight branch in the United Arab Emirates, he currently comes from the 3rd Air Staff Department, where he held the position of Deputy Chief of the 5th “Intelligence & Awareness Policy” Office and where he oversaw, among other things, the development of programs for remote-piloted aircraft.
