The Legion Brigade trains members of the Italian Army, the Spanish Police and the Civil Guard in underground warfare

From 13 to 17 June members of the Regiment ‘Don Juan de Austria’, 3rd of the Legion, trained future trainers in underground warfare from the Army, the Navy Marines, the Civil Guard, and six officers from the Italian Army.

The course took place in Viator (Almería) and Alquife (Granada) and covered both theoretical and practical modules, providing specific knowledge on underground warfare and standardised techniques and procedures. It took into account that the students came from very different backgrounds and offered training which could be adapted to specific underground warfare situations, such as urban, open and desert areas.

The Legion Brigade has been striving to prepare for urban warfare. However, until recently it focused on the surface and, to a much lesser extent, on high altitudes. It is now developing training for underground warfare.

The Legion Brigade has set up experimental units to develop combat procedures in underground environments. In addition, it has launched a programme known as PICAS (Spanish acronym for ‘Comprehensive Training for Combat in an Underground Environment), aimed at establishing training guidelines for such environments (mines, caves, tunnels, sewers…).

Exercise in a tunnel in Alquife (Photo: BRILEG)