4th JOINT COMBAT SAR COURSE HAS STARTED

Training continues at the Air Cooperation School in Guidonia for inter-force military personnel destined to operate in hostile environment SAR (Search and Rescue) and personnel recovery missions. The training course, open to personnel from all armed forces, is divided into two phases: the first phase, purely theoretical at the School, involves the delivery of notions and concepts governed by sector publications and TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures) applied in real operations. A second, practical phase consists of an exercise at an operational unit of the’Italian Air Force where the notions acquired through the planning, preparation and conduct of operations are experimented with “in the field”, also with the use of flight configurations, in which the recovery of isolated personnel in conflict situations is simulated. Also in this edition, with 20 participants from operational departments of the various armed forces, interventions by sector experts from Defence and Foreign Affairs, as well as from international Centres of Expertise in the field of Combat-SAR/Personnel Recovery, such as the Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) and Deployable Air Command and Control Centre (DACCC) of NATO and the’European Air Group (EAG). During the course presentation, Air Division General Roberto Lamanna, commander of the School of Air Cooperation, recalled how “In the past, Combat Search and Rescue operations were understood as activities aimed at rescuing isolated personnel, almost exclusively those from aircraft shot down in hostile territory. However, in today's modern operational theatres and within the broader scope of Personnel Recovery operations, they have assumed primary importance, directly impacting the success of the operation itself, the morale of the contingent, and public support.”The School of Aerocooperation is the joint inter-service military institute for specialised training and technical-operational expertise in the field of interpreting remote sensing images (aerial and satellite), and in that of air-ground and air-naval cooperation. The courses held at the School of Aerocooperation are open, in addition to military personnel of the Armed Forces, also to personnel outside the Defence Administration and to military personnel of NATO and of countries participating in the international Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme, subject to authorisation from the Defence Staff. Read the news on the Defence website