The second phase of the Open Sea 22-1 (MA22-1), the first annual edition of the major training event of the Navy which takes place twice a year. "The carrying out of at least two Open Sea exercises per year is necessary so that the Navy can perform one of its main institutional tasks and that is the so-called preparation of the national maritime forces for the protection of the interests of the country and of the international organizations to which it belongs" declared the commander-in-chief of the naval squad, squad admiral Aurelio De Carolis.
About 5.000 women and men belonging to 7 NATO nations and over 65 between ships, submarines, aircraft, helicopters, units of the amphibious component with landing and assault vehicles, and detachments of special forces are participating in the exercise.
These numbers are joined by the Army and Air Force which, with their tactical contribution, add further training value to the activity. The contribution of numerous realities of the inter-institutional and inter-agency context was profitable: among these the Confederation of Shipowners (Confitarma), the Center for Geopolitics and Maritime Strategy (CESMAR), the Volunteer Nurses of the Italian Red Cross and belonging to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Italian Civil Protection.
As in previous editions, the first annual session of the Open Sea 2022 sees the involvement of university students from many national universities including the University of Bari, the University of Genoa, the Free International University of Social Studies (LUISS) of Rome, the University for foreigners of Siena, the 'Sant'Anna University of Pisa, the Federico II University of Naples, the University of Trieste, the La Sapienza University of Rome, the Tor Vergata University of Rome, the Ca' Foscari University of Venice, the University of the Alma Mater Studiorum studies of Bologna and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan.
Some of them, integrated into the operational staff as political consultants, legal consultants and public information officers, are participating personally, under the guidance and supervision of experienced personnel in the various areas, in the development of the exercise scenario.
"The Open Sea also provides a demonstration of the importance of confrontation and mutual knowledge as evidenced by the high interest shown by the participating allied navies, by the observers of the foreign navies embarked for the occasion and by the students of the participating national universities" concluded Admiral De Carolis.
