Crosetto: 'The army cannot afford 49-year-old NCOs The challenge to lower the average age of the military begins

In a context in which, as the Defence Minister Guido Crosetto emphasised in his speech at the ceremony for the 163th anniversary of the Italian Army's constitution, 'the world has changed profoundly and we have to adapt our Armed Forces', one of the challenges is certainly that of the age of non-commissioned officers. The current one is in fact too high.

"We have to be clear and say that this type of armed forces and the service that we are going to create in the next few years will probably no longer be able to afford an average age of 49 in non-commissioned officers, or 47," said the Defence chief. "Because if what we are asking of the armed forces changes, that will also have to change, the selection will have to change, the average age will have to change, the way we treat one part of the civil service will probably have to change. Because being a soldier and asking someone to be committed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to be willing to go from one part of the world to another, putting one's life at risk is,' Crosetto recalled, 'different from doing any other public or private job'.

The 'Army Report 2023' states that 'the Army is composed of approximately 65% of military personnel whose average age is between 30 and 50 years; in particular, graduates, who represent the largest part of operational units, reach an average age of 40 years. In this context,' the document continues, 'the new system of recruitment of Troop Military and the consequent development of the new training path for Volunteers on Initial Fermament (VFI) are configured as policies oriented to rejuvenate the operational component of the Armed Force and to have, as of now, readily employable human resources. The effects of these measures, however, will be appreciable in the medium to long term with the natural outflow of the most 'elderly' Graduated personnel when they reach the age limit'.

In addition to a problem of age, there is also an organic knot. Speaking on 26 March at a hearing before the Defence and Foreign Affairs Committees of the House and Senate, the Chief of Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, emphasised that the Italian armed forces are 'absolutely undersized'. At the very least, 10,000 more men are needed. But even if we reached the fateful 170,000, we would still be 'at the limit of survival', according to the Chief of Staff. "We do not have enough men," he said, "We are absolutely undersized: 150,000 is unfeasible, 160,000 which is what we are currently approved is still not enough, and with 170,000 we are at the limit of survival. In the army we have exhausting shifts. Times have changed, threats have changed, and our commitment is more and more massive. We want a European defence, and that will take a lot from us. I have applied for more men. I will continue to ask for more men until they kick me out,' Cavo Dragone concluded.

Among the hypotheses that have been considered is that of resorting to the reserves. "We don't have a problem with numbers," Crosetto has explained in the past, "but for example building a national reserve of the armed forces, as in Switzerland and Israel, is an objective of mine, even if it is activated, of course, in very serious cases. The reintroduction of reservists in the army as proposed by the chief of staff 'is an idea,' said the . Masiello is a person of common sense, he has clear ideas and makes proposals. And it seems to me that Minister Crosetto also shares the idea that having a reserve can be useful when men are needed when a real European defence is needed. If we were to send, as I believe is right, Italian units on a possible UN mission to prepare the birth of a Palestinian state, we need men and women to wear the uniform. The most specialised ones could go on international missions and reservists could be called up when there are internal Italian missions to be done'.