Safety Days 2025: the Folgore promotes the culture of parachuting safety

The second edition of the Safety Days was held at the Parachuting Training Center in Pisa, days dedicated to training and information focused on safety in parachuting activities.

The Folgore leads the second edition of the Safety Days

The event involved the units of the Paratroopers Brigade “Folgore” and the Specialized Units with Parachuting Capability of Defense (USCAD), reaffirming the constant commitment to promoting a culture of safety in the military and operational field.

The activity, developed and conducted by the Study and Experience Office (USE) of the Folgore – a technical entity of Defense with specific expertise in parachuting – represented an important opportunity for discussion among industry professionals and highly specialized operators. As emphasized by the Commander of the Paratroopers Brigade Folgore, Brigadier General Federico Bernacca, the initiative constitutes “a training moment of fundamental importance, of sharing and stimulation, down to the lowest organizational levels, of the awareness of the importance of a culture of safety.”

During the symposium days, crucial aspects related to the planning and conduct of parachuting activities were analyzed in detail, with specific focus on safety procedures, risk identification, and mitigation measures derived from real experiences. Great emphasis was placed on the analysis of malfunctions, danger events, and accidents, as well as the lessons learned from such situations. The participants – including paratroopers qualified with both the Static Line and Free Fall techniques – played key roles, such as Jump Directors, Parachuting Instructors, and technical operators with specific qualifications and certifications.

Safety Days, an important opportunity to discuss with USCAD colleagues the importance of a culture focused on safety. In an increasingly dynamic operational context, the exchange of experiences, reflections, and analyses among industry specialists allows for strengthening collective awareness and consolidating common and shared operational standards, thus promoting integration and interoperability among the various components of Defense.

Common standards and reporting culture: parachuting safety as a collective goal

The initiative highlighted the need to constantly maintain high attention on every phase of parachuting activity, promoting the scrupulous observance of standard procedures and the rigorous application of preventive measures. The common goal is to minimize risks arising from human errors, technical failures, or adverse environmental conditions, while ensuring maximum operational effectiveness.

In this context, Colonel Giovanni Piantadosi, Head of the Study and Experience Office, emphasized the strategic value of the Safety Days as a “tool for collective growth and maturation of professional consciousness, aimed at understanding the importance of the so-called ‘reporting culture’.” This culture, he explained, consists of the voluntary and transparent sharing of information on critical events, essential for continuously improving safety protocols and preventing the recurrence of incidents in training or operational contexts.

The symposium also fostered collaboration between national units and USCAD, providing fertile ground for the exchange of experiences, doctrinal alignment, and the definition of common standards. It is precisely this synergy that allows the Folgore Brigade and its specialized units to remain at the forefront in managing parachuting safety, both in training and operational contexts.

The Study and Experience Office, certified according to the ISO 9001:2015 standard, plays a primary role in the design, experimentation, and testing of materials and procedures for parachuting. Its competencies include the development of equipment and technical systems for the parachuting use of personnel and materials of the four Armed Forces, as well as the analysis of damage and malfunctions in the operational field, also through comparison with national and international technical entities.

The 2025 edition of the Safety Days is thus confirmed as a key initiative in the training landscape of the Italian Army. Through targeted training, careful study of incidents, and the establishment of a shared culture of safety, the Folgore once again demonstrates its commitment to ensuring high operational standards and maximum protection of personnel engaged in the most complex and risky activities.