Niger: visit of the COFS commander to the Italian contingent

(To Army Majority State)
11/09/19

Yesterday, at the headquarters of the Bilateral Support Mission in Niger in Niamey, the visit of division general Nicola Zanelli, commander of the Joint Operations Command for Special Operations (COFS), accompanied by Colonel Carmine Vizzuso, commander of the 185 Regiment parachute reconnaissance and Objectives Acquisition (RAO) "Folgore".

The high officer, received by the commander of the mission, Brigadier General Claudio Dei, participated in the closing ceremony of the course of Operational Intervention Techniques in favor of the Intervention and Security Group (GIS) of the Niger National Guard (GNN) and completed by the team of trainers of the Special Forces of the Italian Army, framed within the framework of MISIN based on 185 ° RAO parachute regiment “Folgore”.

General Zanelli continued his visit to the Italian Embassy in Niger meeting Ambassador Marco Prencipe and following the Special Operations Officer of the Niger Armed Forces, Colonel Major Moussa Salaou Barmou. The visit ended with the signature of the MISIN honor register.

The nine-week course, developed in several modules, included the fundamental technical-tactical procedures typical of Special Forces used in urban environment operations and in particular in the remediation of confined spaces, typical of residential complexes. A premise of the specific modules, the National Guard GIS operators were instructed on the techniques of rescue of the wounded in a tactical environment and on the correct handling and use of the individual weapons supplied.

The course had as an epilogue an exercise at the training area of ​​the GNN, in which the didactic activities learned during the theoretical-practical lessons were implemented. At the same time, the National Guard personnel ranked among the first 10 in the previous TIO course, took part in the 2 course for instructors, in order to allow full autonomy in the formation of the GNN Intervention and Security Group in the future.