Under the shining sun of the month of June, the feathers of the "vaire" shine proudly. An impressive array inside the "Albricci" stadium in Naples for a double party: the 181 years from the formation of the Bersaglieri corps (postponed for the occasion, ed) and the salute to the men and women belonging to the Bersaglieri brigade "Garibaldi "Returned a few days from Afghanistan. For about 6 months the guide of the Train Advise Assist Command West (TAAC W), the Italian-led multinational and inter-force NATO Command operating in the West of Afghanistan as part of the Resolute Support (RS) mission, was in fact entrusted to a "composit" of personnel from different departments of the Brigade, with the task of providing advice and assistance to the top management of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF), to the Armed Forces and to those of Afghan Security.
The Italian military personnel in Afghanistan, about 950 units, is divided between the Kabul headquarters and the Italian military contingent in Herat at the TAAC-W.
In the area of Herat from 10 December 2016 to the 15 last June, Brigadier General Claudio Minghetti assumed the role of contingent commander (National Contingent Commander - NCC) and of the TAAC-W whose dependencies there were the health care system from field "Role 2", the Force Protection, Logistic support and the "Advising and Assistance Training" activities, as well as the support structures in the third dimension, "Fenice" Task Force based on 5 ° AVES Regiment "Rigel".
The main component of the national forces was constituted by personnel coming from the "Garibaldi" Bersaglieri brigade of the Italian Army, today alternated by the "Taurinense" Alpine brigade, with a significant contribution of personnel and vehicles of the Air Force and the Carabinieri .
As part of the TAAC-W, the Task Force "Arena", maneuvering force and Theater Logistic Command, based in Herat operating in the area of responsibility of the TAAC-W, was based on the 8 ° bersaglieri Regiment of Caserta under the command of Colonel Stefano Cavaliere: with basic defense, force protection and Guardian Angel tasks (staff in charge of the physical security of the advisors during the activities outside the base). Inside, also a genius company based on 21 ° regiment genius guastatori, consisting of highly specialized structures in the management of the threat of explosive devices, war remnants and mines with the support of dog units belonging to the "Military Veterinary Center" of Grosseto .
General Luigi Francesco De Leverano, commander of the South Operative Forces, during his speech thanked General Minghetti and all the military deployed for the excellent results achieved and for the very high professionalism demonstrated in a multinational context where the Army, and the other Italian armed forces always receive unanimous consent.
General Minghetti stressed the achievement of the dual objective of making local security forces autonomous in managing the professional development of their staff, and of training new instructors (the so-called "train the trainers"), as well as training "specialists" in the field intelligence, countering improvised devices, using mortars and artillery, controlling airspace and more, through targeted courses, seminars and symposia.
All efforts were focused on the organizational development and functionality of the Afghan security forces, to achieve an adequate level of sustainability of the same.
The Italian responsibility area in which the TAAC-W operates, we recall, is a large region of western Afghanistan (the size of Northern Italy) which includes the four provinces of Herat, Badghis, Ghowr and Farah.
The tasks of the "Resolute Support" mission:
The main functions of the RS mission are contained in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed in Kabul the September 30 2014 by the Afghan president, immediately ratified by the parliament, which defines the terms and conditions of the deployment of the new multinational RS force and what will be the main tasks to be performed, including:
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Support for planning, programming and use of long-term financial resources;
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Ensuring transparency, reliability and vigilance in an anti-corruption perspective;
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Support adherence to the principles of the rule of law and good governance;
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Support and support processes such as recruitment, training, management and growth of personnel, including through the supply of materials and equipment;
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intelligence;
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Strategic communication.
Italy has guaranteed its support to NATO and the Republic of Afghanistan and in this context the Train Advise Assist Command West (TAAC W) continues its training, assistance and advisory activities to the local institutions and local security forces in the West Region.
