Carried out annually, the "Mangusta" exercise constitutes the main training event of the Folgore and is aimed at maintaining the operational capabilities acquired during the previous training cycles or within the participation in multinational / NATO activities, as well as at verifying the capacity of the fewer units able to plan, prepare and conduct activities related to operations carried out in a Hybrid Warfare context (hybrid war) and in line with the Full Spectrum Operations / Unified Land Operations concept.
The purpose of the "Mangusta 19" is to plan, prepare and conduct an airborne operation as part of a Joint Forcible Entry Operation (JFEO) conducted in the early stages of a Joint Campaign, using an airborne Tactical Group level unit as Early Entry Force in a semi-permissive scenario, with projection of forces, following redeployment from its permanent headquarters, from one or more Intermediate Staging Bases (ISB) located outside the Area of Operation and with limited support from the Nation. As highlighted by the commander of the thunderbolt Brigadier General Beniamino Vergori: “The current scenarios characterized increasingly by high levels of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity impose very high standards of preparation and performance on military units. In such scenarios, the military effort will in the future be guaranteed by units with an ever greater multinational connotation and joint forces. Continuous, meticulous training, developed precisely in multinational and inter-force contexts, is synonymous with professionalism and skills, and is the fundamental tool to always have Italian Army units, such as the Folgore, ready and rapidly deployable anywhere. "
Maintain and improve specialty standards, increase High Readiness Force operational capabilities through the development of complex operations, synchronize the projection and application of combat power over time and space; integrating the full spectrum of aerotactic support are just some of the aspects tested during the exercise.
The paratroopers of the thunderbolt, are specialist units that are particularly suitable for carrying out, with very short notice, over long distances and in areas often controlled by the enemy and otherwise unreachable by other types of forces, operations ranging from the preventive occupation of positions and advanced bases (also to enable subsequent land and air operations) to conduct tactical raids.
Precisely because of these characteristics of use, or rather the need to decide quickly and perhaps in situations of complete isolation, one of the main characteristics of the paratroopers is the decision-making capacity developed up to the minimum levels. For this reason, training is also structured in such a way as to pursue, in a dual manner, the objective of continuously stimulating decision-making autonomy and initiative up to the level of the individual parachutist through the disciplined and conscious exercise of Mission Command.
The aspect dedicated to the optimization, integration and interoperability between national and US commands / units / structures (173 ^ ABCT) and to the continuous search for synergies with other Allied and Partner countries is also of fundamental importance.
La 173 ° airborne brigade USA, has always been the main multinational partner of the paratroopers brigade, and the "Mangusta 19" exercise allows to consolidate and implement the level of integration and interoperability achieved during the year, through the Allied Spirit X, Immediate Response and Swift exercises. Response 19, Saber Guardian 19. In the “Mangusta 19” exercise, a training visit was also included by observers from the Spanish paracaid brigada and units of the Polish and Armenian army.
The participation of multinational formations and observers from allied or partner countries give the exercise an indispensable added value, allowing, in addition to the achievement of the objectives included in the standard and specialty modules, also the maintenance of the commitments undertaken within NATO and the airborne community in on the development of joint and interoperability capabilities.
