Joint Stars: the first training phase is coming to an end

(To covid)
18/01/23

Military authorities and operational commanders of the Armed Forces met at the Army Simulation and Validation Center (CESIVA) to take stock of the situation on the first training phase of the Joint Stars 22 (JOST).

Here, they met military personnel and university students from LUISS and Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa who have been involved in the planning phase of the most important defense exercise since 13 December.

During the meeting, chaired by the operational commander of the inter-force summit, general of the army corps Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, the features and aims of this first phase of the JOST were illustrated, focused on the military planning process which, for the first time, it also involved the new domains of military operations, namely space and cybernetics.  

General Figliuolo complimented all the trained personnel, who during the briefing illustrated the work carried out in a clear and concise manner, without however neglecting any sector or branch of the planning of a military operation actually conducted, including the legal aspects, cultural, political, gender perspective and relations with the press. “Having here today an audience that is made up not only of personnel from the Armed Forces, but that involves other realities close to the Defense, such as the Guardia di Finanza, the Red Cross, the Port Authorities, the Fire Brigade, the Civil Protection and the world of Universities provides us with the opportunity to share, implement and put into practice all those teachings that will be useful to us in the future to face the onset of a crisis", concluded the COVI commander.

Joint Stars is Defense Defense's premier annual training event. It is a joint-force and inter-agency exercise ordered by the Chief of Defense Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, planned and directed by Interoperable Summit Operations Command (COVI).

This first stage of the Joint Stars, which will end on January 27th, consists of a type activity Command Post Exercise (CPX) in charge of verifying the planning capabilities of a joint national staff in defense operations of air, land and sea spaces, cyber and space security, defense against chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear contamination and countering the resulting threats from emerging technologies including those involving the use of drones, including submarines.

This year, the Defense wanted to strengthen the already solid ties between the Armed Forces and the academic world, involving eleven male and female students from the Free International University of Social Studies "Guido Carli" (LUISS) in Rome and from Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, who were part of the planning staff, coordinated by Joint Force Headquarters. In this context, they worked together with military personnel alongside the so-called advisors or consultants of the commander in the political, legal and public information sectors.

For the students of the two universities, the exercise scenario and the working dynamics typical of a military staff represented a valid opportunity to increase their experience and knowledge of the missions and tasks that the instrument of national defense guarantees in its daily work in defense of citizens, the territory of the State, the national strategic objectives and those of the Atlantic Alliance.