A practical exercise of the SSAFE (Safe and Secure Approaches in Field Environments) course, intended for UN officials who travel, live and operate in highly dangerous scenarios, was concluded in recent days. Result of the partnership between the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) of Turin and the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) of New York, this type of course is supported for the practical part by the Alpine brigade Taurinense Army.
Carried out in full compliance with the rules for the containment of Covid-19, the course saw the participants engaged first of all in a theoretical phase carried out in the classroom at UNSSC facilities focused on various issues relating to safety and risks associated with missions in sensitive areas: explosive devices, organization of humanitarian convoys, communications security procedures (radio and satellite telephone), but also management of critical situations such as hostage-taking, the threat of attacks and first aid techniques.
The theory was followed by practice in the field, at the training area of Salmour (CN).
Here the participants, making use of the expertise and resources of the personnel of the Alpine troops of the Army, implemented the safety knowledge learned in the classroom, to face the numerous scenarios faithfully reproduced by the sappers of the 32nd regiment, by the Alpini of the 2nd regiment and by the artillerymen of the 1st regiment: legal and illegal checkpoints, attacks with firearms and improvised explosive devices, hostage-taking, rescue of the injured and other situations in which to test the achievement of the training objectives of the course.
The full success of the exercise was made possible by making use of the know-how matured by the Alpine Army troops in over twenty-five years of international operations in security-risky areas, including Mozambique, Bosnia, Albania, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Libya and Iraq.
Precisely in this semester the "Taurinense" Alpine Brigade is employed in Lebanon under the aegis of the United Nations.
The one that has just ended is the second of the "Field Days" that will take place during 2021 in accordance with the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding signed on June 14, 2017 between the Defense Staff and the United Nations System Staff College for cooperation in the field. training.
As part of the program Safe and Secure Approaches in Field Environments (SSAFE) are also held courses aimed at training instructors who, according to the principle of "Train the Trainer", will in turn teach what they have learned to other officials in the branch offices of the United Nations.
