Sometimes what you reserve life is truly incredible: there are events, many of which are the consequence of our choices, that without warning and in very short times they can upset you.
We can cite a thousand examples, both good and bad, that would endorse this statement, but today we would like to propose to the reader a "choice" that, if taken, would catapult him into an exciting and unique world of which he only heard of or has lived virtually in videogames.
We are telling you! To you that until yesterday you were a student who did not expect anything special from life; to you who were prepared to enroll in university and take that ritual path to which many young people undergo without being too convinced.
Perhaps from the media or browsing the internet you have already heard of the divers and the Ardito Incursori, their missions and how special their operational capabilities are. Now there is a new opportunity that, unlike the normal training of these men, would allow you to immediately enjoy the adventure and the particular lifestyle that only the Underwater Grouping and Navy Raiders can offer you .
Within a few days, a recruitment notice will be published in the Official Gazette (4a special series) to become a Volunteer in Fixed Prison of one year (VFP1) in the Navy. As part of this competition it will be possible to ask to be enrolled as a Palombaro or as an Incursor and, if it is suitable, immediately be sent to Comsubin to attend the relevant introductory course.
The recruitment procedure, very simple, will be managed through the indications available in the portal of the online competitions of the Ministry of Defense, accessible through the link online competitions Defense present on the website www.difesa.it. During this phase it will be possible to indicate with a simple one click if you want to do the Palombaro or the Incursor.
At this point you will be asked to undergo a series of diagnostic tests that will have the purpose of verifying your eligibility for entry into the Marina and the frequency of the specialized course chosen by you. If you are the winner of the competition, after a brief period of knowledge of the Navy that will take place in Mariscuola Taranto, you will be destined in the ancient base of Varignano where the COMSUBIN, Command of the Divers and the Incursori is based. Your future will start here!
Although the introductory courses to the courses for divers and Incursori are very selective, with willingness and commitment, these can be approached with a certain serenity. Both courses last almost the entire period of the firm (about a year), but if they were exceeded they would give the right to immediately achieve the extension of the same to another four years, time necessary to complete the respective training iter. At that point, those who have obtained the patent will be placed in the Permanent Permanent Service in the relevant Operational Groups.
Today through this incredible opportunity you can start the preparatory course Palombari or the introductory course by Incursori one month after entering the Navy, against the traditional recruitment system that provides, at best, at least three years and three different selections to be overcome in the in the competitions of VFP1, VFP4 and for the specialized grouping courses.
Take the moment, you also become a Comsubin operator!
BECOME A PALOMBARO
The course, divided into three phases, subjects the candidate to a progressive training that will allow him to use the different types of scuba breathing apparatus and systems used in the Navy, as well as perform professional underwater work, both day and night, even with the use of explosives.
The first step to overcome is the Selectable Phase, which allows you to test the aptitude for the specialty through a series of physical, functional and aquatic tests. During these last tests the student will have to prove that he is able to perform simple underwater maneuvers that will be thoroughly described by the instructors. Those who will overcome this last barrage will be able to start the Palombari pre-course course, which includes a dense program of activities, practices and theories divided into the following phases:
First phase: the students participate in an intense morning physical training program to follow the activity in water, both in the pool and in the sea, using the Aria, Mixture and Oxygen self-breathers through the complex and challenging dive systems for heavy work or for activities in polluted environments such as the Normal Appliance and the Underwater Equipment powered by the Surface. This intense training is aimed at testing the subject's predisposition to underwater activities to the depth of 10 meters, representing a crucial training moment for the physical and psychic preparation needed to continue the course.
Second phase: the student uses the range of diving equipment in a more massive way, performing work on the bottom and on the hull of the ships up to the depth of 20 meters. The intense underwater activity, day and night, serves the student to increase confidence in the marine environment. In this phase the visitor acquires the knowledge and skills to harness and recover sunken objects or hulls, learn the techniques of welding and cutting underwater, assimilate the skills to perform the research on the sea floor through portable sonar and metal detector. The instructors gradually modulate the activity until all the students reach the maximum operative expression on each equipment used.
Third stage: the training activities of this phase allow the student to use the self-contained breathing apparatus in the previous activities up to the limit of the operational shares of the same (60 meters for air equipment, 54 meters for rebreather and 12 meters for oxygen) . Both the ability to maneuver the hyperbaric systems and the ability to perform complex underwater work are achieved. The phase is completed with the instruction on the use of explosives, one of the work tools of the diver, necessary to carry out the job of "underwater artificer" during the operations of neutralization of unexploded ordnance.
At the end of the course the students support the theoretical exams of all the subjects of study, after which they will fully enter the body of the Navy Navy, acquiring:
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military patent from Palombaro;
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military patent by Diver;
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Technical Ability to Maneuver Hyperbaric Plants;
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enabling EOD-Sub (underwater artifact);
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enabling diving under the Naval Units and in flooded areas;
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military patent for the conduct of boats within 12 miles.
BECOME AN INCURSOR
The introductory course is also divided into four phases, preceded by an entrance test. The latter is not an impassable barrier, even if the physical form is a requirement to which the aspiring raider must dedicate a few hours of his day. The selective tests consist of:
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dip of feet from a high trampoline 5 meters
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free style swimming test
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a run of 300 meters to be covered in less than 47 seconds
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pull ups
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pushups on the arms and abdominals
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rope ascent of 5 meters
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high jump.
Successfully overcome these tests, the students Incursori begin an intense training course divided as follows:
centralization: Candidates are subjected to selective medical / functional tests from the Comsubin Infirmary and to physical tests and operational aquatics in the tank.
First phase - ground combat: previses the overcoming of numerous physical tests and training in the use of weapons and equipment, knowledge of topography and more generally all that concerns the individual tactical movement and patrol on the ground. In it we begin to develop personal defense techniques and acquire the first rudiments of movements on a rock face that will be perfected in the course of the course. The typical day begins with running and gymnastics and continues with theoretical lessons and daytime and nighttime activities. As you acquire new operational skills, you also increase physical preparation and, of course, the difficulties to overcome. The training becomes increasingly intense, with fast gears in heavy gear up to a final test of 40 kilometers of night gear to be played in no more than 7 hours, with a load of 18 kilos of equipment.
Second phase - fighting in water: it is the hardest and most selective phase of the course. The activity is mainly dedicated to swimming on the surface and underwater, both day and night. In this phase the students will have to demonstrate that they are comfortable underwater and know how to cover long distances swimming with their equipment. In this phase the student also acquires the ability to drive fast rubber boats and is subjected to a practical and theoretical examination during which he will have to demonstrate that he has learned, among other things, notions of boating and aerial photography.
Third phase - amphibious: in this formative moment the students will have to learn the tactics and techniques to go from sea to land and vice versa and perfect their knowledge with the use of different types of special weapons supplied, gaining experience both in targeted and instinctive / operative shooting . They will also learn to use explosives and demolition charges as well as operate from / with helicopters. This phase ends with three nocturnal reconnaissance or amphibious attacks, against objectives on the coast and / or naval units.
Fourth phase - conduct of operations: it is the last phase of the course during which the students will have to demonstrate to be able to integrate everything learned and put it into practice in every operating environment, to know how to plan a special operation and to know how to manage the necessary means. The last tests consist of a complex final exercise and a written and oral examination of what has been learned throughout the course.
At the end of the course the students support the theoretical exams of all the subjects of study, after which they will fully enter the Incursors Operating Group.
(source: "Navy Newsletter July / August 2016" / photos: Marina Militare)
