Colonel Massimo Cicerone, commandant of the Italian air force s 3rd wing talks to Gwyn Winfield GW: What is the future direction of the Italian air force s CBRN capability? Can you see yourselves remaining an air force asset, or will you become a joint force asset, still belonging to the air force, but mainly involved in multiagency/interoperability missions? MC: Through its 3rd wing in Villafranca di Verona, the Italian air force (ITAF) provides a combat service support (CSS) unit with CBRN defence capabilities. Being prepared for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats is a top Nato priority. The alliance has been vigilant in developing policies to deal with the significant and growing proliferation of CBRN threats, which pose unique challenges to Nato operations and which establish the basis for our work today. Threats come from a wide variety of sources and it is hard to say which has the highest priority; therefore, we have to be able to respond appropriately to the entire threat spectrum and use resources such as environmental, force health protection and medical. Ongoing work to counter such threats focuses on research and development of new technology, as well as ensuring an appropriate level of CBRN expertise, manning, passive defence and mitigation measures. The importance of rapid deployment is constantly growing and this requires our CBRN defence unit to become more agile with shorter reaction times, in order to guarantee flexible, mobile, rapidly deployable and sustainable CBRN defence measures and capabilities. The ITAF 3rd wing CBRN unit must be able to prevent a CBRN attack and to counter the effects if such weapons are used, in order to allow sustained and effective air operations. Air mobility forces are trained and equipped to operate in a CBRN-contaminated environment in order to avoid a significant degradation of the rate of force deployment, which normally occurs in those environments due to limitations imposed on air mobility assets. ITAF procedures and future direction must be developed with a joint and combined mindset: we must prepare to counter the CBRN threat through planning, education, training and close coordination with the other services, civilian government organisations, allies and coalition partners. As an air force asset, we are expected to organise forces and to be capable of plugging these into a multidimensional environment to ensure safety and survivability for all personnel along with mission accomplishment. GW: How do you maintain your identity? Presumably soldiers join to be part of the air force, as you become purple (interoperable) do you lose the cachet involved with being air force? MC: ITAF supports CBRN operations as part of a joint and coalition force and with host nation forces that may provide additional, valuable resources. We retain our identity, however, as we are required Toxic Trip, which has been held twice in Villafranca, has been a great opportunity for the Air Force ITA AF to adapt our expertise to the air force peculiarity, which requires a specific air CBRN mindset. GW: Many military organisations are seeing a continued downturn in funding, especially for the less popular arms. Can you see yourself being talked into the position of having a joint CBRN capability, or do you think you will remain service specific? As you build capability how do you persuade politicians/policy makers that you should not be merged with the 7th? MC: ITAF capabilities are developed according to the alliance forces requirements. These military capabilities are to enable national and Nato forces to continue effective military operations in a CBRN environment and effectively deter adversaries from using CBRN weapons and substances. They could also be used to reinforce or in addition to insufficient or non-existing civilian capabilities in case of CBRN incidents. ITAF has made significant CBRN defence capability improvements over recent years and the way our installations and units operate in a CBRN environment is evolving. The peculiarity and the expertise of the ITAF 3rd wing CBRN unit will not duplicate those of the Italian army s 7th NBC defence regiment. All our efforts are related to the air dimension, as we are required to guarantee the main functions of core element and parent unit for the training, exercise, evaluation and operative needs, and recuperation of the air force in both national and out of area operations. GW: What joint training is done with the 7th? How is doctrine developed in 14 CBRNe WORLD October 2016 www.cbrneworld.com
conjunction with them? While Nato provides the framework, the route from A to B is nationally determined, so how do you ensure that when you do a joint mission there is commonality? Otherwise they may as well be a different nationality (with the same language!) MC: The 3rd wing CBRN unit conducts courses and training activities with the Italian army s 7th NBC defence regiment at the joint NBC defence school in Rieti. Personnel learn the basic concepts of first response, study the individual protection equipment, and the main detection and sampling technique together with decontamination and first aid techniques for use right after a CBRN event. With regard to the planning and conduct of operations, the need for joint coordination has been reflected in national procedures, agreements and concept of operations, so as to facilitate the general development of CBRN defence procedures and contribute to respective standardisation requirements. Nato publications also describe the fundamental operational aspects of joint operations and provide guidance on preparing, planning and conducting joint operations after a CBRN incident. GW: CBRN protection of air crew and air bases is needed in article five operations, but less so in others (ie based in Incrilik or Brindisi if there is likely to be trouble). What happens to air crew collective protection (COLPRO) if - and I understand you might disagree - that is the case? Can you see your six, custom built, COLPRO being used for missions it was not originally designed for because it is light and useful? How tight should you hold onto this capability or should you be prepared to let it become interagency? MC: The professionalism, expertise and the peculiar assets ITAF (and the 3rd wing) provides are basically an instrument to support national politics. The ITAF air CBRN unit is capable of intervening whenever our nation is asked to participate in operations or complex crisis scenarios, for example supporting civilians attacked by a toxic industrial chemical (TIC) or other biological and chemical threats. One of our main goals is training to operate in a joint and combined scenario, as well as in an interagency and intergovernmental sphere, through national and international exercises involving other stakeholders and through real operations (for example, in a natural disaster). GW: Are you looking to be able to increase your reach within the air force, to include explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), for example, or within the armed forces generally, with special forces? Is air force EOD just focusing on conventional air dropped munitions or does it want to be CBRN EOD, as Nato understands it? MC: When conducting operations, there might be specific occasions where EOD support could be essential in order to gather the information needed and allow the CBRN unit to determine the identity of a CBRN hazard. This might apply to an operation field sampling potential contaminants, when our SIBCRA team could be ordered to give support, in conjunction with specialised CBRN laboratories. For these reasons, ITAF aims to qualify, certify and train its EOD personnel in order to achieve full operational capability in air operations conducted in CBRN environments. GW: What is the expected future of the medical element? Poland, for example, has a multirole exploitation reconnaissance team (MERT) that deals with mass epidemics and provides bio sampling and epidemiology - can you see ITAF going the same way? Will the mobile lab make a difference in this capability? MC: The 3rd wing CBRN unit, in conjunction with the ITAF MED team, is capable of evacuating casualties from the point of exposure until handover to medical personnel, by performing aeromedical evacuation in biocontainment (isolators with negative pressure for assistance and monitoring of patients with suspected highly infectious diseases). In future, ITAF aims to develop medical countermeasures and support which serve to diminish the vulnerability of personnel to CBRN hazards and to determine if they have been exposed, in particular by guaranteeing the treatment of CBRN and conventional casualties in a CBRN-contaminated environment. Of course, the use of a deployable analytical laboratory (for confirmed identification) could offer numerous benefits and enable the CBRN unit to operate without limitations and more time effectively (reduced transportation time of samples). GW: What does the future mission of the 3rd wing look like? As you look 5-10 years out what is the dream? Do you remain wedded to combat support, or do you become a bigger capability than that? How specialised/grand are your ambitions? MC: Currently, our main role is to provide operational sustainability capabilities and logistics support. We are the unique ITAF unit ready to support expeditionary and deployable operations and support forces both within and beyond our national borders. We are ready to deploy CSS capabilities through full air logistics and technical support. Our CBRN unit, Nato certified in 2013, is required to possess the appropriate knowledge to perform CBRN defence across the spectrum of military operations. Each component of the unit must possess an appropriate level of education, commensurate with rank and air force speciality, in CBRN principles, threat environment, agent characteristics, and appropriate mitigation strategies in order to survive after a CBRN attack. Future opportunities for the wing are numerous and basically they will consistently derive from tailored challenges and scenarios, for example, pandemics, industrial incidents, and hybrid conflicts, particularly affecting urban centres. GW: What role did you play in the Ebola and Zika outbreaks? Do you see emerging infectious diseases as a core mission of CBRN defence, or a bastard child that politics sometimes brings into the family? MC: Transportation of contaminated, contagious or potentially exposed casualties resulting from a CBRN incident possd a unique challenge to our aeromedical patient movement system. In Europe, the ability to transport highly infectious patients through the use of special isolated stretchers is a peculiarity held exclusively by the ITAF and RAF. In September 2014, the Italian government established an entry point in Pratica di Mare AB (Rome) in order to check all military personnel returning home from the Ebola outbreak area. One month later, the Castrum camp was finally set up by the 3rd wing. In November, when ITAF was first tasked with transporting a patient tested positive for Ebola, the 3rd wing dispatched CBRN qualified personnel in 16 CBRNe WORLD October 2016 www.cbrneworld.com
biohazard suits who were capable of operating as planned and according to procedure, to support the medical personnel handling the emergency management. The ITAF KC-767 flew a special bio-containment mission to repatriate the Italian doctor who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone. We had to complete decontamination prior to transportation. All efforts were made to prevent the spread of contamination and the work of our CBRN unit was outstanding. The ITAF has developed its ability to perform aeromedical evacuation in biocontainment since 2005, establishing proper procedures and working closely with the Ministry of Health and the Department of Civil Protection. This capability is based on the use of special aircraft transport isolator stretchers to board the patient, and the smaller stretcher transit isolator terrestrial system to transfer the patient from the aircraft to the ambulance upon arrival. Regarding the Zika outbreak, all aircraft flying from countries exposed to the virus have to be disinfected to prevent mosquitos from entering national borders. We started implementing aircraft treatments when the instruction was issued; therefore, some of our CBRN qualified personnel were capable of developing a treatment plan as a preventative measure, which is effective for up to eight weeks. Treating the aircraft is a relatively brief task and once the treatment has taken effect, the aircraft is finally ventilated and certified to travel, in accordance with International Civil Aviation Organization Annex 9. So far, we have supported Tornados and the ITAF acrobatic team. Surely, emerging infectious diseases might be considered as one of the CBRN defence pillars, thanks to the dual-use technologies ITAF owns and the possibility of promoting civil/military cooperation. of donning/doffing aircrew CBRN ensembles and provide technical support. It an occasion for attendees to collect data and information about other nations equipment, procedures and lessons learned, facilitating the development of CBRN defence training procedures and contributing to respective standardisation requirements. It promotes discussion and analysis of the current status of CBRN defence as it relates to present and future requirements, and assesses the training implications derived from emerging threats. Today the ITAF occupies the chairman position within the exercise and provides numerous key elements who act in the EXCON (included qualified personnel from the 3rd wing). Each year the exercise is hosted by a different Nato nation. As the ITAF 3rd wing CBRN unit s Nato certification renews in 2019, this might be an opportunity to host the exercise in Villafranca once more. Regarding other Nato exercises, we aim to participate in some of the most important CBRN events such as Toxic Valley (Slovakia) and Precise Response (live agent training in Canada), etc. GW: How is the training with the Abu Dhabi forces going? What training facilities do you have in Villafranca, or do you need to go to Rieti? Who holds the doctrine? ITAF has shown itself to be one of the leading Nato nations in air force CBRN, there is little more that Oberammergau can do when you are in the vanguard. How do you become a thought leader and how can you expect Rieti, for example, to properly understand the light role concepts that you need to deliver? MC: The Italian defence general staff asked ITAF to train air force units from Kuwait and United Arab Emirates. So far, this kind of cooperation has been an element of cooperative and collaborative learning, promoting a positive interaction. In Villafranca through the CSS training centre we carry out all the predeployment training for ITAF personnel tasked for out of area operations, employed at multinational and/or Nato headquarters or involved in the joint rapid reaction force or Nato response force. The course is called individual predeployment training and lasts five days, allowing for verification that all participants meet the requirements for the deployment. We also host multinational activities to reinforce partnerships and cooperation with other services and nations. As stated before, our CBRN unit conducts only basic courses at the joint NBC defence school in Rieti; finally, all the training will be done at the wing, in conjunction with other units (eg with different ITAF units for the decontamination of aircraft, aircrews and cargo A/C) and in national or multinational exercises. Our national doctrine derives from Nato. We follow the procedures and principles of allied joint publications and other documents which provide fundamental principles for the planning, execution, and support of Nato operations for which the threat and/or risk of intentional or accidental use of CBRN substances is either assessed or exists. GW: How important is Toxic Trip to the 3rd? It was held in Villafranca in 2013 and 2015, are there plans to make this a regular schedule? Are there other Nato exercises that you would like to be more closely involved in Toxic Valley, for example? MC: Toxic Trip is considered the most complete air CBRN Exercise in Nato. It aims to train different aspects of CBRN defence related to air operations in a multinational scenario, increasing the level of interoperability among Nato and partner nations in order to conduct the procedures Col. Cicerone (left) has now been promoted to Brigadier ITA AF 18 CBRNe WORLD October 2016 www.cbrneworld.com