It took place from 11 January to 1 February, at the headquarters of Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC) of Hohenfels in Germany, the multinational exercise called "Allied Spirit XIII" directed by United States Army Europe-Africa (USAREUR-AF) and conducted by 7th Army Training Command (7ATC), in which Italy participated by deploying personnel of the 132nd "Ariete" armored brigade of the Army, under the command of Brigadier General Roberto Banci, and specialized assets of the command tactical information brigade and of the 7th broadcasting regiment.
The training activity involved around 5200 soldiers from 15 different countries (Germany, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Holland, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Hungary and the United States). The exercise, unique of its kind, allowed to increase the training level of forces belonging to NATO and multinational partners, to operate jointly in the management of crisis scenarios in a hostile environment, as well as to test the interoperability of systems, sharing procedures and techniques in planning and conducting operations.
The 132nd "Ariete" armored brigade took full advantage of the training opportunity, simultaneously conducting "Livex" activities, with the use of a tank platoon based on the C1 "Ariete" tank, the main armored fighting vehicle of the Italian Army, and a “constructive CPX” (Command Post Exercise) simulation activity aimed at verifying the operational capabilities of the command post.
