Infantry, Artillery, and Aviation cadets participate in exercise 'Hispania 26'

ACART cadets

Nearly one thousand personnel—including cadets from the Infantry Academy (ACINF), the Artillery Academy (ACART), and the Aviation Academy of the Spanish Army, along with support personnel from other units—participated in Exercise "Hispania 26", conducted from April 22nd to 27th at the Chinchilla Training Center (CENAD) (Albacete), where a large number of mobile assets were deployed.

The main objective of this activity was to integrate and exercise command and leadership among the different cohorts of cadets undergoing military training for entry into the officer and non-commissioned officer ranks within the same Academy. To this end, operational procedures specific to each cadet’s primary specialty were applied, enabling them to practice leadership within their teams and broaden their combined-arms training, within the framework of a high-intensity conventional warfare scenario against a technologically advanced adversary.

In the first phase of the exercise, various cross-training activities were conducted among the branches. During the second phase, the Infantry was organized into a Task Group, while the Artillery formed a Mixed Artillery Group, which included a Fire Support Unit (UAF) and an Air Defense Unit (UDAA), both equipped with command posts and liaison elements integrated into the maneuver units at Task Group and Sub-Task Group level deployed by the Infantry Academy.

The Infantry units conducted exercises in area defense, patrolling, convoy escort, and urban operations, in addition to numerous live-fire exercises. The Artillery units practiced fire support and air defense procedures at brigade level. Meanwhile, the Aviation cadets participated in the integration of air assets and in the establishment of the command and control structure responsible for coordinating the airspace shared with maneuver and support units, as well as in other air missions associated with the exercise, such as reconnaissance and attack.

ACINF cadets