It came alive, in Brindisi, the European Lions 2020, one Command Post Exercise (CPX) which will be carried out in the operational rooms of the amphibious ship San Giusto, flagship of the third naval division.
The objective of the exercise, which began on January 20, 2020, is to test the decision-making process, the Command and Control organization of the Force Head Quarter (FHQ) and the information flow of the FHQ with subordinate commands in a fictional scenario. .
The exercise involves about 190 soldiers, between the staff of the Amphibious Task Force (ATF) and that of the Landing Force, coming from 25 Commands / Bodies of the Navy under the guidance of Rear Admiral Alberto Sodomaco, commander of the national Amphibious Force. The main force providers are the third naval division and the marine brigade Saint Mark, commanded by Rear Admiral Cesare Petragnani, for their natural institutional function.
La European Lions 2020 is included in the training program for the national leadership preparation of the amphibious European Union Battle Group (EUABG), on a SIAF / SILF basis; this program will be completed with the certification of command of the third naval division upon reaching the Full Operational Capability (FOC) necessary to guarantee the semester of “operational readiness” (or stand-by period), from 1 July to 31 December.
The first two weeks include activities aimed at amalgamating the staff by increasing the knowledge of the doctrine and amphibious domain, also testing CIS systems (Communication Information Systems). In the third week (3 - 7 February), the operational planning of the mission assigned to the ATF will be developed and, at the same time, the staff team will be set up to carry out the function of Exercise Control (EXCON), that is, the direction of the exercise. In the fourth and final week (10 - 13 February), the commander of the ATF (CATF) and the commander of the Landing Force (CLF) will operate jointly from Ship San Giusto to conduct the amphibious operation for the purpose of performing the assigned mission.
The Open Sea exercise 2020-1, which will be conducted in the next month of May in the Mediterranean Sea, with the presence of naval units, aircraft assets, personnel from various European Marines, will represent the live training event as a "field test" our Amphibious Task Group.
