Milan under lockdown, the 500 Folgore paratroopers deployed to guard stations and other sensitive locations, with the specter of fresh street unrest. This is the high-stakes scenario behind the political controversy of recent days. But beyond the crime reports and media spectacle, the figure of Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has emerged forcefully.
In the stance that has inflamed public debate, Crosetto did not defend an institutional whim, but the safety and dignity of his personnel:
«I would have wanted the units going to Milan to have the necessary tools to deal with the situation and the ability to use them», the Minister explained, noting that service members «cannot even use pepper spray or a Taser; they can use Velcro restraints to restrain a person who has been stopped, because after two years of requests we were only recently granted that possibility. But only around stations. Therefore, not on the streets of Milan».
His words expose an anomaly unique to Italy: sending our soldiers to manage critical situations without Tasers or pepper spray, with their hands tied by bureaucracy that leaves them exposed without adequate operational safeguards. Faced with this situation, Crosetto shared a bitter reflection on social media:
«I “dared” to ask for all this to be possible, only in these particular circumstances. In response to this latest availability of the armed forces, I witnessed attacks from those who see them as “competition” and from those who cried coup. I would like to reassure everyone: the armed forces cannot wait to return every public-order responsibility to those who are meant to handle it, and they do not want any superpowers».
Those who cried “coup” or saw Army units as “competition” for urban security have shown that they do not understand the true nature of the Armed Forces. With his characteristic candor and courage, Crosetto reiterated a crystal-clear truth. As a commander of men, the political leader stood firm against the attacks in order to protect the young men of Folgore.
In step with General Ceravolo: the end of “soundbite” rhetoric
This clear-eyed analysis perfectly reflects the strategic vision advanced by General Francesco M.Ceravolo, Secretary General of Executives at USMIA (Unione Sindacale Militare Interforze Associazioni), whose views – expressed in the article "Strade Sicure, beyond the publicity stunts: return soldiers to Defense" published by Difesa News – precisely identify the distortions of the current model.
General Ceravolo, an authoritative voice close to service personnel, has repeatedly dismantled the emergency-driven, propagandistic logic behind the major "publicity stunts" associated with the Strade Sicure project. For years, the aim has been to patch up structural shortcomings in public-order policing by assigning Army units to static security duties, undermining their primary mission and wearing down personnel and equipment in a permanent stopgap role.
The parallel between Crosetto's thinking and Gen. Ceravolo's demands is complete. Both converge on a fundamental principle, clearly summarized in the Minister's own words:
«For years, I have said that soldiers should do soldiers' jobs and police forces should do police work. I have also repeatedly said that it would be useful to gradually replace the 6,800 Strade Sicure soldiers with 10,000 auxiliary Carabinieri, trained and prepared for security duties and also vested with judicial police powers, enabling them to apprehend offenders caught in the act».
Crosetto then recalled that, precisely because of this common-sense position shared with military representatives, he was the target of specious criticism:
«I was also attacked over this because it seemed I was not sufficiently interested in security, when the exact opposite was true: I wanted it to be efficient, effective and widespread».
The training of an elite Defense unit is focused on defending the homeland, strategic deterrence and managing international crises. Using paratroopers as urban "passive security guards" represents a waste of human and professional capital of inestimable value.The proposal to gradually replace Army personnel with specialized forces fully embraces the direction advocated by USMIA: restoring efficiency to public security while, at the same time, "returning military personnel to Defense."
Toward a new paradigm: Defense at the center
The institutional debate sparked by the events in Milan must not be dismissed as political infighting. On the contrary, it is the test of political and military maturity that Italy can no longer postpone.
On one side, we have a Minister, Guido Crosetto, who embodies the role of a Political Leader capable of thinking with the mindset of a field Commander: someone who protects his soldiers, who does not hide behind empty platitudes and has the courage to say enough to publicity stunts at the expense of those in camouflage. On the other, there is union and military representation – clearly articulated by Gen. Francesco M.Ceravolo – calling loudly for respect for the military's unique status and strategic role.
If we want a secure, efficient and credible nation, we must stop asking the Army to stand in for what it is not. Italian soldiers will continue to do their part with their customary honor and discipline, but political leaders have a moral duty to restore the dignity of their role: safeguarding the Republic's sovereignty and strategic security, free from the compromises of media spectacle.
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