For entire generations, compulsory military service represented a rite of passage. But what happened once the uniform was set aside? Discharge did not simply mark the end of an obligation; it signaled the beginning of a new phase of life, in which discipline, friendships, and an operational mindset merged with civilian reality.
This page offers a journey through the testimonies of some people who experienced that crucial moment, providing a concrete insight into the meaning of conscription and its legacy.
Discipline and inner submission
For Domenico Stifanich, military service was a demanding school of obedience. His account focuses on a moment of intense tension with a superior—an episode that became a fundamental life lesson: learning to accept hierarchy, to “open one’s fists,” and to submit to authority.
The man who returned
Renato Colussi describes his service as a catalyst for personal growth. After discharge, returning to civilian life and assuming new responsibilities led him to look back with renewed awareness. Military service, he recalls, “made him more of a man,” preparing him to face the demands of work and family life. It is a period he does not miss, but one he recognizes as essential to his personal formation.
A formative interlude
Mauro Depetroni remembers his service as a rigid yet necessary phase. Although conscription was a “very rigid” and “compressed” structure, the experience proved to be deeply formative. Military life forced him to confront the imminence of adulthood, helping him clarify his future plans regarding work and the completion of his studies.
Nostalgia for limited responsibility
Manlio Princi recalls conscription as the last carefree pause in life. His memory is bittersweet. Service represented “the final period of relative responsibility” before the “harsh search for employment” and the formation of a family. His testimony captures a transitional moment in which personal responsibilities began to outweigh those imposed by the institution.
The regret of a Second Lieutenant
For Fabio Basilisco, discharge was unexpectedly unsettling. Fully integrated into his role as a Second Lieutenant, the end of service brought with it a sense of melancholy. Although readjustment to civilian life was easy, he admits that “one way or another, I was part of the system.” His experience illustrates how integration into the military structure could generate a sense of belonging that was difficult to relinquish.
Enduring solidarity
Maurizio Berquier describes discharge as a pact of honor. His recollection of an evening at the officers’ club with a fellow serviceman, and of the “fine words that were later upheld,” highlights the deeper value of conscription: solidarity and fraternity. A bond forged during service and destined to endure, transcending hierarchy and time.
The operational mindset
Conscription as professional training. Giampaolo Reiter exemplifies how military service provided immediately applicable skills. Discharged on 21 March and entering service with the State Forestry Corps on the 23rd of the same month, he was able to apply at once the “organizational and operational mindset” acquired in the military—an essential asset in coordinating wildfire response.
The Continuity of Military Tradition
A career officer reflects on the Cold War. Antonio Cattarini, drawing on his long service in the Italian Navy, offers a broader perspective. Despite technological evolution, he observes, “traditions have not changed.” Values such as discipline and a sense of duty, consolidated in the post-war period, remained constant.
Conclusions
This limited yet representative set of testimonies provides insight into the legacy of compulsory military service, showing how conscription was perceived by some not merely as a temporary obligation, but as a formative experience.
Several interviewees highlight the acquisition of discipline (Stifanich), personal maturation (Colussi, Depetroni), and the development of responsibility and solidarity. Even among those who welcomed discharge with relief, some later came to view conscription as a meaningful transitional phase.
Whatever the personal outcome, those long days of military service—sometimes experienced as monotonous, demanding, or even unbearable—can, in retrospect, be regarded as a significant moment worthy of reflection and study within the social history of the country.
