 My rank is a lieutenant colonel, Carabinieri lieutenant colonel and my name is Alessandro Cricitiello and my job here is a police subject matter expert, police senior mentor and police senior advisor. Carabinieri, we are one of the four armed services in Italy and we are the biggest one in terms of numbers and we have barracks in all over Italy because we are police force with military status. We have jurisdiction over civilian and military within Italy and outside of Italy and so we are mainly a police force. Well the Italian role in African Lion 2021 is to participate with one Carabinieri officer that is me and as a contribution with the memorandum of understanding between Italian DOD and particular the Carabinieri and the US DOS. So the participation for my side and so for the Carabinieri is this one. Then we have also another group of an Italian group of military but then those guys they belong to the Joint Operational HQ and to and they are the Italian component of NRDC. African Lion strengthens the interoperability between part of the nation because it's an occasion where we can merge a component like the Carabinieri or the police forces with military status within an operation at such big operation and exercise as African Lion it is especially we're going to bring our expertise for what is the stability policing subject and that's something that you know when you are doing an exercise that takes or involves phase two and phase three of an operation then you have to think about the fourth phase of stabilization and that's the time when stability policing comes comes very important. Strategic readiness it is increased by African Lion in terms of just see the full spectrum of of the phases especially the part that is regarding the stabilization because yeah we can we can we can prepare a good campaign but then at the end the campaign will have to finish and all the the combat phases will finish so there is the need for someone that will take care of the stabilization and the best unit that they will take care of the stabilization phase and will bring the all the components to the handover takeover with the civilian authority are the stability police units and this is why I'm here just to bring our perspective in that this scenario at this strategic level giving the chance to it will strengthen our partner giving the chance to work again together in and also to as we did in other many other different mission it's another occasion to work together and to improve the relationship and the interoperability. Definitely it is a very complex exercise and what I will bring is how it's possible to relying on a really deep organization how can be possible to build up in really in a few days such a huge exercise have it really well synchronized and how this was possible knowing all the part all the partner especially the Italian Italian partner and US partner very well and so it is it is really a great you know it's something that we already have because I mean we are not partners in a few time but you are very old partners but this is again another occasion to work together and strengthen our ties since I was a kid I always loved the carabinieri always loved you know the blue uniform and when it was time for me to do the military service then I enlisted the carabinieri became an officer and you know served uh for almost three years in Iraq three years in Afghanistan and then now I'm at the co-west so I'm using all my experience and that I that I gained in all the mission abroad for the center of excellence for stability police units I really would like say that I'm really pleased and happy this is my first time that I uh I participate to African lion I I did with the with the with sifa with sita sorry and according to the the mo you that there is between us co-esp and sita I participate to justify the core series united accord all the core series but this one it's really really impressive it's the I think it's the biggest exercise I ever ever participated in my life and so I'm I'm really pleased in order to to have the chance to participate you know with the strong allies as of course is us for us