Yesterday at Camp "Arena", home to the Italian contingent of the Train Advise Assist Command - West (TAAC-W), the ceremony for the change of commanders of the Military Advisor Team and Operations Coordination Center Advisor Team.
Colonel Tommaso Capasso has surrendered the command of Military Advisor Team (MAT) - the unit made up of Army teams assisting the 207th Army Corps of the Afghan National Army in its growth process - to Colonel Davide Dal Maso.
In addition, Lieutenant Colonel Marco Berzi replaced Colonel Ciro Gambino at the helm of theOperations Coordination Center Advisor Team (OCCAT), the coordination unit for the training and assistance activities of the Afghan security forces to be developed in the context of the SFA (Security Force Assistance) doctrine - key element of the mission Resolute Support.
The alternation ceremony of the two units was preceded by a coordination meeting held by TAAC-W with the leaders of the Afghan National Army (ANA) and with the police commanders of the west region to establish the tactical and logistical planning phases for the imminent start of the summer activities indicated by General Nicholson, commander of the mission Resolute Support. Brigadier General Massimo Biagini, commander of the Train Advise Assist Command from the west, he wanted to share with the commanders of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) the operational aspects on which to focus the work in the summer months, establishing with the Afghan counterparts the guidelines on which the staff will work together.
The work of the Italian advisors - characterized by fundamental training activities such as lectures, seminars and conferences to improve the level of preparation of Afghan colleagues, the creation of specialized courses in radio communications, information technology, identification and deactivation of improvised explosive devices (IED ) - has allowed in recent months the raising of the operational standards of the 207th Army Corps units of the Afghan National Army (ANA) operating in the Herat region.
No less important were the training activities of 'Ground MEDEVAC' to improve the evacuation capacity of the wounded soldiers by land, a fundamental aspect for an army like the Afghan one which has an air force that is currently only 'embryonic'. The support projects aimed at Afghan female personnel and the continuation of 'train the trainer' programs for the training of local military instructors should also be mentioned.
