The Aerospace Operations Command hosts the NATO exercise "Steadfast Jupiter - Jackal 2020"

(To air Force)
10/12/20

From 30 November to 10 December 2020 it took place at Aerospace Operations Command (COA) of Poggio Renatico (FE) the planning and conduct phase of the operations of the "Steadfast Jupiter - Jackal 2020" (STJU-JA 20): a virtual exercise, computer-assisted / command post exercise (CAX / CPX), that is conducted by operating in a simulated scenario, which with a series of "ad hoc" events and solicitations tests the Command and Control chain (C2) assigned to the planning and execution of a "Out of Area Non-Article 5 Crisis Response Operation" (NA5CRO) - a “Non art. 5 ”in response to a hypothetical out-of-area crisis south of the Alliance and on a regional scale.

Strategic, joint, operational and tactical, the STJU-JA 20 was organized by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) - Supreme Headquarters of the Allied Powers in Europe (SHAPE) to train and assess both the leadership and management capabilities of command agencies and the reaction and execution capabilities of rapidly deployable, mobile, sustainable and flexible multinational forces, with the assistance of Theater Components (TCs) - land, naval and air components physically located in the theater of operations. As for the Air Forces, in crisis response operations, the C2 structure is essentially based on theAir Component Command (ACC) which activates the  Joint Force Air Component (JFAC) - Air Component Joint Force Command, a C2 structure that, to date, only a very small elite of nations (France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Turkey and United States) can make available to the Alliance; in particular for the air component, in this edition of the exercise, the Italian JFAC (ITA - JFAC) was trained, whose core resides permanently at the AOC which feeds it through its own personnel, integrated, usually in a modular way, by personnel also coming from other departments of the Air Force.

That of the STJU-JA 20 held at the COA is the last of 7 phases that took place during 2020 in line with the SHAPE training model but in this phase, in compliance with the rules of prevention and fight against COVID 19 and given limitations to travel and numerical use within the premises, the staff employed in the exercise was mainly composed of soldiers serving at the AOC. This command therefore, in addition to ensuring seamless performance of the institutional tasks of the Air Force in the field of National Air Defense, Search and Rescue and Air Transport (particularly urged by the COVID-19 emergency and by the number of missions flown in favor of the Civil Protection), demonstrated the ability to also manage the task of planning, executing and controlling complex aerial operations in the entire range of missions expressed by aerospace power in execution of the exercise design. The current emergency situation makes in fact even more necessary a "team resilience", suitable to guarantee, without interruption, all the functions normally ensured 24 hours a day 7 days a week at the service of the country, and all the possible tasks operational additions deriving from the general context of global geopolitical instability.

The safety and prevention work carried out on the grounds of Poggio Renatico was pregnant following the current health situation, with a "dedicated" protocol that provided for entry through a passage manned with a "thermo scanner" and any antigenic pad rapid in case of abnormal temperature alteration.

In this context, therefore, the STJU-JA 20 also offered the opportunity to provide further proof of the extreme flexibility, creativity, proactive drive, commitment and motivation that the men and women of the Arma Azzurra have always made available. of institutions and the country.