Istalia

[XanderOne]

Defense: new annual military exercises involving the Armed Forces, Reserves and Civil Service

Minister De Castaldo: "Strengthening the defense system's preparedness and integrating the population into national resilience capabilities"

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May 5675

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ROMULA - The Ministry of Defense has announced the launch of a new program of military exercises that, unlike in the past, will be held regularly. In fact, starting this year, they will be held annually and will involve all Armed Forces. Each year, one of the main branches, Army, Navy, and Air Force, will assume the leading role, while a larger-scale exercise will be organized every four years, ensuring equal participation from all military components.

The exercises will also include the regular participation of reserve personnel and citizens engaged in the National Civil Service. Not all of the reserve and civilian contingents will be called upon to participate: each year, a set number of reservists and citizens engaged in the Civil Service will be selected, with a larger deployment planned every four years for major exercises.

Defense Minister Luigi De Castaldo, a former Air Force general, emphasized to the press that the new planning aims to raise the overall preparedness of Istalia's defense system:

This is an opportunity not only to train the Armed Forces, refine tactics and strategies and test weapons systems, but also to strengthen the response capacity of the population and the reserve. We want the entire defense system to be able to operate in a coordinated and organic manner in any scenario, while hoping that our country will never have to experience similar situations again.

The first exercise will feature the Imperial Air Force, which will conduct, among other activities, simulated operations against reservist positions tasked with organizing a large-scale anti-aircraft defense. At the same time, selected Civil Service personnel will be employed in simulations of rescue operations, transportation of the injured and management of supply lines.

The program involves the implementation of complex and diverse scenarios, some of the most complex specifically designed for reserve personnel. They will be called upon to engage in exercises that include guerrilla tactics and asymmetric warfare simulations, evoking experiences that remain deeply embedded in the collective memory, particularly those of veterans of the Peninsula War and the Great Patriotic War. Reservists will also undergo brief refresher training during the exercise period. The Ministry of Defence has assured that reservists and members of Civil Service selected to take part in the exercises will have their days of absence from work fully paid, without such days being deducted from their accrued leave.