The joint exercise Spring 16 conducted by the Italian contingent of UNIFIL, on an Alpine brigade basis Taurinense, Together with some units of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) concluded a complex training cycle consisting of the 2 ° advanced APEFP course (Air Power Employment and Fratricide Prevention) aimed at controlling air support to land units and the prevention of friendly fire and from the 1 ° course for experienced shooters (Sharp Shooter) carried out in favor of the LAF.
The courses were conducted by qualified J – TAC (Joint Tactical Air Controller) experts and a team of selected shooters from the 9 ° Alpine Regiment, currently engaged in Lebanon in the ranks of the Italbatt task force based on the Nizza Cavalleria regiment (1 °), which followed the Lebanese personnel during all the training phases, the theoretical ones at the Italian bases of Shama and Al Mansouri and the practices, at the used training areas of the local armed forces.
The conduct of the final exercise on the ground succeeded in merging in a realistic context the use of both new operational capabilities acquired by the Lebanese armed forces, aimed at controlling and protecting the Lebanese territory and population.
La Spring 2016 showed the high level of amalgamation and professionalism acquired by the LAF teams admitted to the course and highlighted, once again, the synergy reached between the staff of the Sector West and the corresponding command of the 5 ^ brigade, the Lebanese unit that insists in the same area of Italian responsibility; support for the Lebanese armed forces is one of the focal points of the 1701, the UN resolution that gives life to the UNIFIL mission.
