The "Folgore" parachute brigade has just concluded the "Mangusta 2023" exercise, a joint training activity which also involved transport aircraft from the Air Force and military units from the USA, Spain and Great Britain.
The exercise - among the main training events of the paratrooper specialty - had the aim of verifying the ability of the units of the "Folgore" brigade to plan, organize and conduct, within the different phases of an airborne operation, tactical activities enablers and the projection of forces in depth. For fifteen days the participating personnel trained in complex tactical activities focused on high intensity combat, in a highly realistic scenario with opposing parties. The particularly challenging operational environment, characterized by impervious terrain, difficult climatic conditions and degraded communications, also allowed the junior leaders to compare themselves with their abilities to carry out the assigned mission even in the absence of orders, in compliance with the principles of decentralized command ( Mission Command). Spirit of initiative, clarity and speed of action therefore represented their reference parameters for testing their leadership skills.
For the first time, the advanced load conditioning base of the air supply company which, in cooperation with the flight assets of the 46th air brigade of the Air Force and the Army aviation command, guaranteed supplies by air to the units on the ground through the airdrop of materials.
In addition to the assets of all the departments of the "Folgore" brigade, the Spanish paratroopers of the "Almogavares" VI de paracaidistas brigade, the US military combat engineers of the 54th BEB (Brigade Engineer Battalion) under the 173rd IBCT participated in the exercise , the actual English personnel of the Queen's Dragoon Guards and the 16th Air Assault Brigade of the UK Army.
For the Armed Forces, the "Serenissima" lagoon regiment, the 66th "Trieste" airmobile infantry regiment, the tactical information brigade, the 11th Bersaglieri regiment and the "Horse Artillery" regiment were also involved.
C-27J fixed-wing aircraft from the 46th air brigade of the Air Force and CH 47 helicopters and 1 Dornier fixed-wing aircraft from the Army Aviation were used.
The "Folgore" parachute brigade, a large combat unit dependent on the command for operational forces north, is among the tools available to the Army to ensure the Defense's ability to respond and intervene immediately in crisis and emergency situations, which require the deployment, in a short time, of important devices capable of operating in all areas of confrontation.
