The 11th edition of the exercise ended on Friday 3 October in Furbara, after two weeks of intense activity IEDD PRAEX (Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Practical Exercise) organised by EOD Centre Explosive Ordnance Disposal A.M. of 1st Special Operations Air Brigade (BAOS).
Three people took part in the exercise Team IEDD: the 31-year-old Americanand End of day Flight of the Royal Air Force, the Spanish EADA (Air Deployment Support Squadron) of the’Army del Air and Space, and the Italian Air Force team comprising two personnel from the 3rd Wing at Villafranca and one STOS operator from the 9th Wing at Grazzanise. In addition, the exercise was attended by dog handlers from the Italian Air Force Dog Centre, five EDD units (Explosive Detection Dog – canine units trained in explosive detection), provided by Belgium, Spain, and the United States to support the activities of the EOD MA Centre.
The aim of the exercise was to increase the level of cooperation and training in the recognition, making safe and destruction of improvised and conventional explosive devices. The practical activities were preceded by a FIT phase Strength Integration Training in which operators from the various armed forces were able to familiarise themselves with the equipment of other nations. The organisers of the Italian Air Force EOD Centre, with the support of an operator from the 31stand EOD Flight (an American unit dedicated to explosive ordnance disposal permanently deployed at Aviano Air Force Base) have developed various training and exercise scenarios at the Furbara airfield, home to the 17th Raider Wing, and its associated training area located near Lake Bracciano. Team They simulated the redeployment at a Multinational Task Force during a CRO (Crisis Response Operation): amongst the exercises, that of dismantling a “bomb factory”, i.e. a site where improvised explosive devices are assembled and HMEs are synthesised (Home-made explosive), protected by “Booby Traps” (explosive traps); to identify and secure the so-called “loitering munition”, among the most widely used techniques in many real-world global crisis scenarios.
The event, included in the exchange programme supported by the EAG (European Air Group, it is held annually, with the aim of promoting and facilitating both training and exercises, as well as the exchange of personnel, information and experience between the Air Forces of the member countries in the field of Survive to Operate And of the Force Protection, to address increasingly complex modern crises.
It EOD Centre (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) AM, organically integrated within the 1st Air Brigade O.S., is formed mainly by Italian Air Force qualified EOD Instructor personnel. It is equipped with remote-controlled robotic vehicles, among which stands out the Mini Calibre which allows you to intervene directly in the threat Improvised Explosive Device (IED), transporting the team also by helicopter given its man-portable capability. The EOD Centre has been designated as the Italian Air Force's Competent Technical Body for the sector concerning the counteraction of explosive ordnance and the training of personnel throughout the entire Armed Force. The 1st Special Operations Air Brigade (BAOS) ensures the qualification, training, specialisation and preparation of Special Forces (Raiders), Special Operations Air Support Forces (S.A.O.S.) and for the activities of Personnel Recovery, ensuring the constant updating, standardization and interoperability of tactics, techniques and procedures at the Armed Forces, interagency and international levels.
Furthermore, it has the task of expressing the skills necessary to set up a structure of a Joint Special Operation Air Task Group (J.S.O.A.T.G.) highly specialised, versatile and with high levels of operational readiness for exercises and operations. The 17th Raider Wing of Furbara and the 9th Wing of Grazzanise report to the 1st BAOS. The 1st BAOS reports hierarchically to the Air Squad Command – 1st Air Region of Milan.
