With the end of the second phase, carried out in a virtual manner on IT platforms, the Joint Stars 2018 (JS 2018) exercise was concluded, an inter-training training activity of greater national importance, planned, organized and managed directly by the Defense staff for the through its own "operative arm", the Interoperable Summit Operations Command (COI).
Divided into two distinct phases, the JS 2018 allowed in the first phase, conducted in May with the actual use of troops, means and weapon systems, to federate together the concurrent "Golden Wings" exercises of the Italian Army, "Open Sea" of the Italian Navy and "Vega 18" of the Italian Air Force, as well as the NATO "Ramstein Guard" exercise, which has allowed us to satisfy the need to seek ever-greater multinational interoperability.
The second phase, carried out instead at the headquarters of the Air Operations Command of Poggio Renatico from about 500 military of all the Armed Forces and of the Carabinieri, has been developed with the use of computer platforms of Modeling & Simulation, allowing the training and testing of personnel's ability to operate in complex and diversified crisis scenarios. Moreover, this particular type of computer-simulated training activities, called Command Post Exercise/Computer Assisted Exercise, allows the exercise of personnel with less impact on the territory and a significant containment of the necessary financial resources.
Il Interoperable Summit Operations Command (COI) thus had the opportunity to train, in an absolutely realistic manner, in the planning and conduct of specific operational activities, the Small Joint Operations-SJOs /High Intensity (high-intensity interforce operations), to deal not only with traditional threats, but also attacks in the cyber domain - for the first time in fact the Interforces Command for Cybernetic Operations participated in these activities as well as being called to intervene as well areas characterized by possible chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear contamination (CBRN). The computer simulated activities have also allowed to involve, from their permanent locations, a plurality of commands and assets of all the Armed Forces, with particular reference to those of NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), rapid intervention force at the disposal of the Atlantic Alliance, whose responsibility has been entrusted to Italy for the whole 2018.
The great importance of this exercise was highlighted by the presence, on the final day, of the Minister of Defense, Elisabetta Trenta, who was able to view the full achievement of all the pre-established training objectives and who wanted to congratulate the staff involved, for about two months, in the conduct of this important exercise.
The head of the General Staff of the Defense, General Claudio Graziano, who, together with the heads of the individual armed forces, accompanied the minister, wanted to emphasize that "the interoperability of the Armed Forces is an indispensable element to make the Military Instrument ever more cohesive and effective, with a strong inter-force connotation, perfectly integrated into the Euro-Atlantic alliances and, in an increasingly inter-agency dimension, in synergy with the other Dicasteries. This process of integration is now irreversible to keep pace with other major European countries."
The JS18 also allowed the achievement of other important training goals, such as the consolidation of the command and control capability of the JFAC of the Air Force in the missile defense sector (Theater Ballistic Missile Defense), of the planning and management of personnel recovery operations. isolated from non-permissible territories (Joint Personnel Recovery), cyber defense and the identification and designation of objectives.
The JS 2018 has thus proved to be a precious opportunity to increase and refine the interoperability between the Armed Forces in the various defense sectors, not only allowing the synergy and economy of the resources put in place to be increased, but above all consolidating the inter-force capacity that, at all levels of the military instrument, is now an essential prerequisite for any modern operation, both in national and multinational contexts.
