point was the assassination of Judge Paolo Borsellino and his escort, on July 19, 1992, an event which is now part of Italian contemporary history.

It had such wide repercussions because two months earlier on May 23, 1992, another famous and brilliant magistrate, Judge Giovanni Falcone and his escort were killed by a violent explosion from a bomb placed in an underpass of the highway linking Punta Raisi Airport (which has subsequently been re-named Falcone - Boorsellino Airport) to Palermo.

The "criminal element" was attempting to dissuade any further investigation into its activities and the state felt that a strong response was necessary to establish control of Sicily. The operation was in effect a peaceful "invasion" of the island. The state’s response caught the criminal element off guard. These actions led to the arrest and conviction of a number of high-ranking crime figures. The military personnel had been granted "special" police powers, which greatly assisted them in carrying out their mission.

Presumably, the Type 9 was eventually replaced by Type 13 (below).

Completed Peace Missions shown in the Bibliography)

The obverse (Figure 21) has the curved inscription ANTARTIDE above a raised five-pointed star at its center framed by two olive branches to represent the peaceful nature of the missions. The reverse (Figure 22) depicts a map of Antarctica at the center with the curved inscription, PRO SCIENTIAE (For Science) above and the curved inscription, PERVESTIGATIONE (For Investigation) below. The ribbon drape is violet-white- black-white-red.

Figure 22: Reverse of the Commemorative Medal for Service

in the Scientific Mission in Antarctica.

Figure 21: Obverse of the Commemorative Medal for Service

in the Scientific Mission in Antarctica.

Type 10: Commemorative Medal for Service in the Scientific Mission in Antarctica.

The silver-plated 40mm round Commemorative Medal for Service in the Scientific Mission in Antarctica was instituted March 7, 1994. Although seemingly not a peace mission medal, it is awarded to military personnel, who have accompanied every peaceful scientific mission to Antarctica since 1985, and have provided a presence at Italian Base IT-35 in Terra Nova Bay and the Italian-

French Base Concordia. (See the Internet Index of

Figure 23: Obverse of the Commemorative Cross for Peace

Operations with two bars.

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Figure 24: Reverse of the Commemorative Cross for Peace

Operations.

Type 11: Commemorative Cross for Peace Operations.

The 40mm, dull silver-plated Commemorative Cross for Peace Operations replaces (Figure 23) Type 4, which had in turn replaced Types 1 through 3. It essentially returns to the use of the white ribbon with the 2ram (each) central tricolor stripes and replaces the blank central reverse disk with a raised star (Figure 24). The obverse disk reads in three lines, PER LA PACE. It also resumes the use of the 38mm by 3mm bronze mission bars and adds bronze and silver stars to the service ribbons to indicate multiple missions. Official bars for the Cross include:

BOSNIA Issued for participation in the Implementation Force (IFOR), Stabilization Force (SFOR), the International Police Task Force (IPTF) and the European Police Force

(UEOPOL).

ETIOPIA-ERITREA

Issued for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and

Eritrea (UNMEE)

HEBRON Issued for the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) 1 and 2

JUGOSLAVIA For the various, Balknas-related Missions associated with maintaing the peace in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Yugoslavia and parts of Hungary, such as European Community Monitor Mission (ECMM),

European Union Monitor Mission (EUMM) Operation SHARP FENCE and Operation MARITIME GUARD (July 1992 to Jume 1993), FormerYugoslavia Airlift 1992-95, NATO-WEU Operation SHARP GUARD (June 1993 to October 1996), Operation DANUBIO (1993 enforcement of the United Nations sanctions on the Danube River) and the European Union Administration of Mostar (July 1994 to October 1996)

KOSOVO

Issued for service with the Kosovo Force (KFOR) and

the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)

MEDIO ORIENTE

(Middle East) for service with the United Nations Truce

Supervision Organization (UNTSO)

MOZAMBICO

For the United Nations Operations in Mozambique

(ONUMOZ) - October 1992 to January 1995)

NON-ARTICLE 5

Issued for the NATO Missions in the Balkans after

Operations JOINT FORGE and JOINT GUARDIAN

TIMOR-EST Issued for INTERFET and Operation STABILISE in East Timor

Bronze and silver stars are also added to the service ribbons to indicate multiple missions. One bronze equals two missions, two bronze equals three missions and one silver equals four or more missions. The unofficial bar EX-JUGOSLA VIE is also encountered.

Type 12: Commemorative Cross for Humanitarian Aid Operations.

The 40mm, silver-plated Commemorative Cross for Humanitarian Aid Operations (Figure 25) was introduced in 1996. It re-uses the straight two line inscription, PRO HUMANITATE from the 1993 Operation PELLICANO version of the Cross, Type 8, which it replaces. The star on the central reverse disk is carved in relief. The ribbon is changed to a darker brown color and the central tricolor stripes are wider at 2mm each. There is a long and a short tip version. The long tip version has a (1) straight and (2) curved inscription. The bronze bars authorized for this version, include (Figure 26):

ALBANIA 1 This bar is issued for Operation PELLICANO (see Type 8 above)

ALBANIA 2 and ALBANIA 3

On 28 March 1997, the United Nations Security

12 JOMSA

Figure 25: Obverse of the short tip version of the

Commemorative Cross for Humanitarian Aid Operations

with four bars.

Figure 26: An assortment of bars for the Commemorative

Cross for Humanitarian Aid Operations.

Council authorized a multinational military and humanitarian mission in Albania. The Italian-led coalition of willing member states, codenamed Operation ALBA (dawn) deployed to Albania in mid- April 1997. Operation ALBA came to a close on 12 August 1997. It involved 3,000 members of the Italian military. ALBANIA 3 (28th Naval Group) was a follow-on humanitarian mission conducted under the terms of the Italy-Albania Agreement, which extended into 2001.

Other Albanian peace related missions have included: (1) DIE - Delegazione Italiana Esperti; (2) MAPE/WEU

Multinational Advisory Police Element (May 1997 to May 2001); (3) the Albania Force (AFOR), the NATO- led international force responsible for establishing and delivering humanitarian aid to refugees from Kosovo in Albania during the Kosovo crisis in 1999 and (4) staffing of the NATO Headquarters in Tirana.

IRAQ and IRAQ 2003 The Italian government, in an unpopular domestic

political decision, committed 3,000 troops to Iraqi

humanitarian efforts. Operation ANTICA BABILONIA

involved 1,700 army personnel, 260 Navy Special

Forces, 200 Air Force personnel and 300 Carabinieri.

The Carabinieri was created in 1814 to perform both

military and civil functions. It was called the Carabinieri

not only to avoid any comparison with the former

Napoleonic Gendarmerie but mainly because, like all

elite units of those years, it was equipped with carbines.

The Carbinieri initially helped to protect Iraqi antiquity

sites, which had been heavily looted by thieves. Army

personnel, in addition to combat units, included an

NBC Company, Signal Company, Engineer Battalion,

Ranger Platoon and Special Forces Detachment. The

Italian contingent operated as part of the British led

MNB-SE in Nasiriyah. Italy withdrew its forces from

Iraq at the end of 2006, but still maintains a presence as

part of the NATO Training Mission in Iraq. The death

of 19 Italians on November 2003 from a truck bomb

attack in Nasiriyah was Italy’s single worst military

loss since World War II. In total, there were 33 Italian fatalities in Iraq.

MACEDONIA

Italian operations recognized by this bar include (1)

Operation JOINT GUARANTOR when the Italian

Army began deploying to FYROM on December 9,

1998 to evacuate, for security reasons, both military

and civil observers of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe - Kosovo Verification Mission

(OSCE-KVM) and (2) Operation ALBIT, the Bilateral

Mission in Albania. Other Macedonian missions

included: (1) Operation ESSENTIAL HARVEST,

which was officially launched on August 22, 2001 and

involved the disarmament of ethnic Albanian groups

and destruction of their weapons; (2) NATO Operation

ALLIED HARMONY in 2001, that included missions

ESSENTIAL HARVET (disarmament) and AMBER

FOX (security operations); (3) European Union

Operation CONCORDIA from March to December

2003 that contributed further to a secure environment

and allowed implementation of the August 2001 Ohrid

Framework Agreement; (4) the staffing of the NATO

Headquarters in Skopje; (5) the European Union Police

Mission (PROXIMA) from December 2003 to December

2005 and (6) the European Union Police Advisory Team

(EUPAT) launched in December 2005.

The bars: ALBA and ALBANIA are also

encountered.

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