Aviano's Finest - Italian Civilian Category

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AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Unit: 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron 

How long have you worked at Aviano Air Base: Since November 1995 

Title of address: Signorina 

First & Last Name: Claudia Damuzzo 

Duty Title: Secretary

Name of town/city and Italian province you are from: Roveredo in Piano, Pordenone

How do you support the 31st Fighter Wing mission?
 I am very proud to work as the commander's secretary of the best 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron in the Department of Defense for 2008 and to support the 31st Fighter Wing mission and the great Aviano team by doing my job to the best of my abilities. 

What's one thing you've learned about America's history, people and culture?
Despite being a relatively young nation, if compared with the Old World's ancient history, no other country with mixed-immigrant background has completed the process of nation-making as quickly as the U.S., reaching economic growth and welfare and developing at an outstanding speed into a modern democratic world power. Describing the typical features of the average American identity is a difficult task. In fact, as a nation of immigrants coming from all over the world, America has no single ancestry, but is a mix of many different nationalities and ethnic groups that thru the process of Americanization forged a new identity by fusing positive values from different cultures and traditions, finally transforming the U.S. into a multicultural, multiracial and multinational society. As such, America represents a valuable example to Italy and many other Western European countries which are currently in the midst of experiencing a shift toward a multicultural and multi-ethnic society, owing to new waves of immigrants.

What's one advantage of working with Americans? 
It's a unique opportunity to learn and understand the American culture and its people and to foster great friendships. 

What's your favorite European destination and why? 
There are incredible tourist places of interest all over Europe, however my favorite destination is Munich, my hometown. 

Why I nominated Sig.na Damuzzo as one of Aviano's Finest?
"As the first sergeant for the 31st AMXS, I have the great pleasure of working closely with Claudia every day. As the squadron commander's secretary, she performs a valuable service to the squadron as a whole, but more importantly to the daily operations of the command section. Whether juggling the ever-changing calendar of the commander, or managing the awards and decorations program for our 505-member squadron, or tackling everything in between, Claudia approaches every challenge with the utmost professionalism and expertise and always with a smile on her face. She is the continuity within our squadron ... the ultimate Dragon ... as evidenced by her tenure here since the 31st AMXS stood up in 2002. Claudia is a tremendous asset to 31st AMXS, and we appreciate all she does for our unit each and every day." - Master Sgt. Chris Sawaryn, 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron first sergeant