After an initial phase developed in May with the "Immediate Response 19" exercise, with which the necessary operational conditions were created, following the air launch and with the subsequent projection in depth in Romanian and Bulgarian territory, from 11 the parachute brigade on 24 June thunderbolt participated in the International Exercise Swift Response 2019 (SR19).
La Swift Response was developed in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania with the dual purpose of implementing the effectiveness and reliability of the US European Command, to test the operational capabilities of the airborne units allied within the airborne community. The exercise was led by the US Global Response Force and represents a sub-phase of a broader and more articulated US-led multinational exercise called Black Sea/BalcanRegionExercise 2019 (BS / BRE19).
In this context, in fact, in addition to the Italian Army and the armies of the host countries, the armed forces of 7, member countries of NATO, participated: Canada, France, Germany, Holland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Operating within a JFEO - Joint Forcible Entry Operation and activities aimed at developing the ability to project from the air following infiltration by airborne, developed in conjunction with the 46 ° aerobrigata of Pisa, the paratroopers brigade thunderbolt participated with brigade command personnel thunderbolt, of the 183rd Parachute Regiment nimbus, of the 186rd Parachute Regiment thunderbolt, of the 8 ° regiment engineering genius thunderbolt, of the 185th Parachute Artillery Regiment thunderbolt, assets of the logistic regiment thunderbolt, of the Parachuting Training Center thunderbolt and the command department thunderbolt.
In particular the 20ª company "Puma" of the 183 ° parachute regiment nimbus, inserted in the Task Force "Bayonet" US, made one joint forcible entry operation at Boboc airport in Romania, to then continue the action on subsequent targets. An exploratory platoon of the 186 parachute regiment thunderbolt instead it carried out an air-drop with the free-fall technique in the area of Chez in Bulgaria in order to guarantee the safety of the 82ª division of the US division and prepare the area for the 18 June night aircraft from the 183 explorer platoon ° regiment which subsequently operated in the training area of Novo Selo (Bulgaria).
The modern, complex, international scenarios require the Italian Armed Forces to constantly develop capacities that make them increasingly able to operate in interoperable, interoperable, inter-agency and alongside the Armed Forces of allied countries. From this point of view, training activities such as Swift Response, become more fundamental than ever to be able to test beforehand both the operating procedures and the materials, the equipment, but also the Command and Control capabilities.
