Video blog: UN ICT survival training exercise
Last week I was lucky enough to get invited on a training course run by the UN Foundation and the World Food Programme (WFP) aimed to train UN ICT staff to become field managers in some of the most hostile conflict zones and disaster areas in the world.
Along with the initial security teams, the UN ICT staff are the first people on the ground when a disaster hits – such as the current crisis in Burma – so have to know how to handle themselves.
One of the exercises I witnessed, held on a military base just outside Pisa, involved the participants – from agencies such as UNICEF and the WFP – having to take cover from paint bullets fired from automatic weapons by Italian paratroopers.
The aim of the exercise was to find out how the trainees cope under pressure as well as teaching them how to react if they find themselves under attack or ambushed.
In this clip, the paratroopers put on a mock ambush for the participants:
Next up, a group of three of four participants are told to walk through a fake town and after finding themselves under fire, from paint bullets, find a way back to their starting point using all the cover available.
The troops also demonstrated how to react if your convoy comes under attack: