Saturday 6 December, at the Great Hall of’Institute of Air Force Military Sciences, 36 young boys and girls from the new 1st Course of the “Giulio Douhet” Air Force Military School” in Florence, they received the Spadino, an emblem of belonging to the School and the Italian Air Force.
This year's edition has taken a Symbolic value special in the history of the School. Indeed, since its inauguration, following alphabetical order, each year has been identified with names recalling mythological figures or celestial bodies. Over the years, starting in 2006, the students of the School have followed one another within its walls Astro, Bora, Crono, Dardo, Espero, Fides, Ghibli, Iris, Lyra, Mito, Nadir, Omega, Perseo, Rigel, Sirio, Taurus, Ursa, Vega, Zenit courses. With the start of the new academic year, the cycle of names therefore restarts from the beginning of the alphabet for the first time. This circumstance gave the ceremony a special celebratory dimension, marking both the conclusion of a historical cycle and the beginning of a new sequence in the Institute's tradition.
The event, chaired by Commander of the Air Force Schools/3a Air Region, Air Squadron General Francesco Vestito, opened with the intervention of Colonel Mauro Nazzi, Commander and Headteacher of Douhet.
addressing the students, the Colonel Nazzi invited them to “to fully embrace the experiences that Douhet will be able to offer them in the three-year period that awaits them and which will put them in a position to make their own the essential tools for facing future challenges. At Douhet – Col. Nazzi continued – you will have the opportunity to put yourselves to the test, to get to know yourselves first and foremost, but also to enrich yourselves with friends who will soon become new brothers and sisters”.
Then spoke the Dr Domenico Crescenzo, Head of the Bora Course from the Douhet School from 2007 to 2010 and currently CEO and co-founder of a startup an American involved in the development of innovative technologies. In his speech, Dr Crescenzo recalled some of the most important and significant moments of his experience as a student and course leader, highlighting how these were fundamental in laying the foundations for his subsequent career: adapting to difficult times without sacrificing one's values, always remembering the importance of the group, knowing how to face and grasp the value of the small and large defeats that life reserves, and, finally, the importance of discipline and method as tools to pursue one's ambitions.
He was subsequently addressed by the General Dress, who after thanking the teachers and permanent staff of the School for the sensitivity and enthusiasm with which they carry out their demanding formative and educational task, then praised the students for successfully completing the arduous competitive path, reminding them how the sword and the uniform they wear “They concretely and tangibly symbolise all the traditions and all the values that are the foundations of our Armed Force.
The programme continued with the awarding of scholarships donated by associations, organisations and families historically linked to the school, which were presented to students who distinguished themselves in the previous academic year for their academic performance, behaviour and sporting achievements.
Following this, the most anticipated moment of the ceremony took place, when the senior cadets handed over the sword to the young cadets of the new 1st Course: a gesture intended to represent the ideal passing on of traditions, values, and the aeronautical spirit from one generation of cadets to the next, in the spirit of continuity and renewal.
The Military Aviation School “Giulio Douhet”, Founded in Florence in 2006 and dependent on the Institute of Aeronautical Military Sciences, it is a military high school that offers second-trimester courses in classical and scientific branches, which are accessed through public selection. The Institute aims to guarantee a complete and harmonious education, aimed at the human, ethical, cultural and physical development of the students, with the objective of preparing them to face the challenges of the future with competence and a sense of responsibility, regardless of the profession they choose to undertake.
