Italian Army conducts personnel recovery training in Afghanistan

Italian Army conducts personnel recovery training in Afghanistan.

The Italian soldiers belonging to the Train Advise Assist Command West (TAAC-W), currently deployed at the 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete" base under the command of Brigadier General Enrico Barduani, recently conducted a Personnel Recovery exercise in a daytime and hostile environment, at the Camp Arena base, Herat, Afghanistan.

The activity involved aircraft belonging to the "Fenice" Task Group, two AH-129D exploration and escort helicopters and two UH-90A multirole helicopters, an airborne team specialized in Personnel Recovery and JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) units, as well as health and safety personnel.

The exercise was coordinated by the TAAC-W operating room which used the "Shadow-200" Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to monitor the various phases of the activity. It took place through a first planning phase and a second "live" phase which ended with the recovery of military personnel victims of a simulated plane crash.

The activity also allowed the participants to test and refine Personnel Recovery techniques and procedures in the operating theater and evaluate the operating standards. Personnel Recovery is one of the most important abilities to support the troops involved in military operations and brings together all the assets aimed at the recovery and reintegration of personnel left isolated in a hostile environment.

The TAAC-W is Italian-led and belongs to the NATO Command and includes personnel from the Italian Army and other Italian Armed Forces. As part of the Resolute Support operation, it is responsible for the western part of Afghanistan, which includes the provinces of Herat, Badghis, Farah and Ghor, for a territorial extension equal to the whole of Northern Italy and a population of about four million inhabitants. The contingent is made up of soldiers from 8 nations (Albania, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia, Ukraine, United States of America, as well as Italy) who operate with the aim of contributing to training, assistance and advice in favor of of the Afghan institutions and security forces, committed to creating adequate conditions of security and prosperity for the local population.

Written by Matteo Sanzani

Source, Images: Train Advise Assist Command West