Italian peacekeepers on mission in Lebanon launch Capability Training Packages

(To Greater Defense)
23/07/19

In full compliance with United Nations Resolution 1701 which provides, among the tasks of Blue Helmets, that of assisting the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF, Lebanese Armed Forces), the training in favor of them continues, with the aim of increasing their capabilities, as well as increasing interoperability with the peacekeepers of the Joint Task Force Lebanon (JTF -L) of Sector West (SW), allowing the achievement of Full Operational Capability of Lebanese units deployed south of the Litani River, the northern demarcation line of UNIFIL's area of ​​responsibility.

For this reason, the first “Joint Training for Enhancing LAF Capabilities” workshop took place at the command of the Italian contingent at Shama, currently based on the “Aosta” brigade. Sector West and the command of the Lebanese Armed Forces of the south of the Litani, whose purpose was to share a common course of action to plan, over a period of time exceeding the semester and more effectively, the capacitive development of the LAF. This need has emerged as the conduct of training activities, following monthly planning, now does not allow the acquisition of suitable skills to work jointly.

Thanks to the newly formed Joint Training Committee, organ for the coordination of the training activities of the command of the Sector West of UNIFIL and the command of the South Litani Sector of the LAF, the effective will to identify the capacitive gaps was given, through the assessment of the training levels achieved so far. Depending on the outcomes of this activity, all specialist training measures will be put in place, aimed at standardizing the level of the units, in order to fill deficiencies and progress in training towards more ambitious levels.

In this context, the SW command put forward a proposal to expand the training and training offer in favor of the LAF, focused on analyzing the capacitive needs of the Lebanese counterpart and sharing the final training objectives (study carried out jointly already in the preparatory works of the workshop); on the progressive development of the individual operational capacities of the LAFs operating south of the Litani, from a basic level to an intermediate and advanced level, in an annual training cycle; on the implementation of the six-month training plans, thanks to intermediate multi-function and multi-capacity exercises, as well as complex six-monthly exercises to verify the training standards achieved and for the continuous updating and adaptation of the annual training cycle.

The command of UNIFIL and the LAF particularly appreciated the initiative of the Aosta brigade aimed at structuring, over a period of 12 months, the training support of the Italian contingent under the aegis of the United Nations, as well as periodically verifying the training-capacity levels achieved from the LAF, with the intermediate and final exercises.

This will allow, between UNIFIL peacekeepers and the Lebanese Armed Forces, an increase in mutual support, greater knowledge, better cooperation and coordination, for the purposes not only of operational employment, but also in cases of destination of joint assets in protection tasks civil.

As part of the aforementioned activities, the command of Sector West has fielded its own experienced Officers in the field of operational and training planning, organizing with the instructors of the Lancers Regiment of Aosta (6th) of Palermo, of the 4th Engineers Regiment Palermo and the 62nd “Sicilia” infantry regiment of Catania, intense training activities at the Chewakeer polygon, near the ancient Phoenician city of Tire.