Lebanon: the 100 days of the Grenadiers

(To Army Majority State)
07/03/20

South Lebanon, UNIFIL mission, Sector West: 1750 square kilometers is the area where an Italian Joint Task Force operates articulated on the brigade structure Granaders of Sardinia.

I peacekeepers Italians move in an international context where UNIFIL is made up of 45 nations, the Sector West, under the command of Brigadier General Diego Filippo Fulco with his 15 nations and his 3800 men is the largest area of ​​operations.

Main effort is the control and security of the Blue Line, which in the area of ​​responsibility extends for about 50 kilometers and includes 8 of the 13 reservations areas, areas still subject to border disputes between Israel and Lebanon.

To fulfill the task, over 25000 operating activities were carried out, around 250 per day. Activities that do not know continuity, day and night, have no limitations dictated by the weather situation, often conducted together with foreign colleagues.

Over 20% of the patrolling activities in the sector are conducted in close coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), with which operational and training relationships coexist.
More than 110, in fact, the courses that were conducted in support of the Lebanese army. Various topics are covered: motorized patrolling techniques and procedures, foot patrolling, procedures for responding to a hostile act, wounded treatment and medical evacuation, counter-IED (Improvised Explosive Device), urban operations. More than 2350 LAF soldiers who confronted and trained with the peacekeepers Italians only in the period of service of the brigade Grenadiers.

Another pillar on which the work of the military of the Sector West is that of CIMIC, Civil-Military cooperation. Many, over 500 healthcare activities, 77 donations, 20 public works inaugurations and more than 230 activities with municipalities; these are the numbers with which the support to the population has become real and tangible.

The results achieved so far contribute to strengthening the image of the Italian soldier: professional, capable, prepared, but above all endowed with an innate empathy that allows him to be accepted and to evaluate situations and circumstances in the best possible way. Invaluable feature in an operating scenario with delicate balances such as the Lebanese one.