67 representatives of various armed forces of the 13 countries partner of the command of the NATO rapid reaction corps in Italy (NRDC-ITA) have recently concluded the exercise "Eagle Snowmaster 2017", conducted in collaboration with the Alpine Training Center of Aosta.
The exercise was intended to increase both physical performance and individual stamina as well as the knowledge and skills to operate in the mountain and winter environment. For this reason not only day and night marches were carried out at high altitude in a snowy environment, but also skiing activity in tactical order, making available to international personnel the equipment suitable for operating in such an environment.
The activities, managed by the instructors of the Ski Mountaineering Section of the Alpine Training Center, have also allowed to strengthen the body spirit and the ability to "team building" among the staff of the participating staff. Particular attention was paid, among other things, to theoretical and practical lectures on climatology and first aid in mountain environments.
During the exercise, space was also given to training the team that will represent NRDC-ITA at the next Alpine Troop Ski Championships (CaSTA 2017), which are about to take place in Alta Val Pusteria (Alto Adige) from 13 to 19 March .
The "Eagle Snowmaster 2017" represented a valid opportunity for the NATO command of Solbiate Olona to train a significant number of staff of the NRDC-ITA staff to operate in a low permissive mountain environment. This has been particularly important for the development of the professional skills of the staff especially in a training phase during which NRDC-ITA is involved in the preparation of the activities that will lead the army to play the role of Land Component Command (LCC) starting from the 2018.
The LCC is the terrestrial component of the eNRF, that is the "enhanced" NATO Response Force (eNRF), a military instrument of "advanced" reaction, which for rapidity of intervention and deployable operational capabilities allows the Alliance to immediately face any threat in name of the Collective Defense or in response to crises, with very short deployment times. Within the eNRF, NRDC-ITA will therefore hold the command and control of the terrestrial part of the VJTF, whose task will be to ensure NATO's first and immediate response to possible threats, with the ability to deploy the entire military device between 5 and 15 days from order notice.
