Italian Air Force and Italian Army trained to manage Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergencies in an international context comprising 17 Nations
From 1 to 5 May, the 43rd edition of the Exercise took place Brave Bedouin CBRN “BB22” is an annual event that takes place in Skive (Denmark) at the Danish CBRN Area Control Centre. The event, a simulation of CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear) contamination, was held in buildings normally dedicated to the cadets of the Danish school, which, for the occasion, were set up as a Command and Control centre to supervise the simulated event.
Staff of’Italian Air Force e of the’Italian Army, along with operators from 17 other nations, trained to face a scenario characterised by CBRN contamination in order to verify readiness levels, logistic and operational arrangements, and to test the intervention procedures of the units from the various participating nations.
In fact, it was possible, within specific simulated scenarios, to increase the level of interoperability in a multinational context, to verify and update intervention methods and procedures, from the processing of communication flows to the definition of the event location, up to the identification of the type of contamination and therefore of the agent used (whether it is a Biological or Chemical attack) or the energy employed (whether it is a Radiological or Nuclear incident). The data and information collected were processed through a special dedicated software which provided valuable indications to the CBRN operators of the Command and Control chain to identify the threat and the military/civil units to be deployed in the field for decontamination and monitoring activities.
Seventeen nations collaborating with the’North Atlantic Treaty Organisation in specific areas of interest such as the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) and Partners across the globe.
For Italy, 37 CBRN specialists participated from various units of the Italian Air Force (including the 3rd Wing at Villafranca, which houses the main CBRN Air assets and capabilities) along with an Italian Army operator from the CBRN Area Control Centre (CBRN ACC), the apex body of the national military network for the observation and reporting of CBRN events, which is part of the Inter-service NBC Defence School in Rieti.
To underline the importance of the event, the visit of the Danish Defence Minister Morten Bodskov who visited the various units deployed in the different phases of the exercise.
The current Joint, Combined and Interagency context and participation in national and international exercises effectively increases the level of interoperability, preparedness and response capability of Italian Air Force personnel in CBRN events, both in national territory and in operational theatres, not only for their specific duties, but also, in cooperation with Defence and other national resources, for the safety and protection of the community against potential incidents relating to natural disasters or pandemics. The 3rd Wing specifically, thanks to the sophisticated technologies of the equipment supplied and the experience gained in international training contexts, represents a centre of excellence in the Air-CBRN sector and is recognised internationally as one of the most experienced in the decontamination of both military and civil aircraft and vehicles, to the extent that it has been tasked with running courses for obtaining CBRN qualification for Air Force personnel.
