Módulo 25 - Centro de Instrução de Blindados (CI Bld)

Greetings to all. I am Colonel Alexandre Cheliski, commander of the Armored Instruction Center. In the sequence, a presentation will be held about our Center.

I will address the following topics, the history of armored personnel carriers in Brazil, talk about the Center itself and what is its role in the training of the armored troop. Regarding the history of armored personnel carriers in Brazil, I will present this slide, which contains a series of information. But from this slide, I would like to draw three strong ideas.

The first, below the curve, are the great acquisitions made by the Brazilian Army. The Army bought the first combat vehicle, the Renault FT-17, in 1921, and then made several acquisitions. In the first great acquisition, the Renault FT-17, in 1921, and the second, in 1938, the Fiat Ansaldo.

From this second acquisition, Brazil created instruction centers, or schools, with the aim of forming the garrisons that operated this armored personnel carrier. Then, in 1938, the Fiat Ansaldo was bought from Italy and, in 1939, the Motorization and Mechanization Instruction Center was created. So, as I said, the focus of these schools was to train the garrisons of the armored personnel carriers.

And once it completed the training of all the garrisons, the instruction center would lose importance and it was either transformed or extinct. And this lasted until 1960, with the School of War Materials. The School of War Materials had a fundamental role in the formation of the War Materials Sergeant and in the specialization of armored personnel carriers.

But from 1960 to 1996, it practically canceled the formation of the tactical employment of the armored combatant, which was resumed with the creation of the C-Blind. And then, the fundamental role of the armored personnel carrier center. First of them, it resumed the tactical training.

Second of them, the second positive point, it changed the formation system. We began to adopt the mixed training system. What is this?

Instead of training all the garrisons here in the armored personnel carrier center, we began to train only the specialist. And this specialist is an operator of the armored personnel carrier and has a general, generic and much more in-depth knowledge about the armored personnel carrier. And then what happens?

Here in the center, we train the specialists, the officers and sergeants. Once they return to the unit, there they form the garrison. So, the center did not lose its importance over time, on the contrary, it gained two additional impulses.

The first of them was in 2004, when the center was transferred from Rio de Janeiro to Santa Maria. Here, it was close to the armored personnel carrier, close to the armored units of the field of instruction. And the second great impulse was in 2010, when the war material school was transformed or migrated to the logistics sergeant school.

As I said, the war material school had two fundamental roles. The first of them was the formation of the war material sergeant, and this role was transferred to the logistics sergeant school. And the second role was the specialization of the armored mechanic.

This role also passed to the armored personnel carrier center. So, in 2010, it was the second boom in the growth of the armored personnel carrier center, already here at the Santa Maria garrison. So, let's go to the presentation of the center itself.

The center is subordinated directly to the Southern Military Command, but it has an operational link with the Land Operations Command, through the Preparation Headquarters and the Army Doctrine Center. This link has the planning, orientation, coordination and control of activities related to military instruction and doctrine. And it has a technical link to the Department of Education and Culture of the Army, the DSECS, through the Military Technical Education Directorate.

And this technical orientation is the technical-pedagogical orientation due to the courses and internships that are conducted here. Our total workforce today is 255 soldiers, 44 officers, 85 sergeant lieutenants and 126 sergeants and soldiers. It is a small workforce, but we have been able to fulfill the tasks that are assigned to us due to the training of our personnel.

We develop the main teaching activities. There are 27 teaching activities in total, totaling a passage of 500 students per year here in the center. We conduct 16 courses and 11 internships.

These 16 courses are an extension course, which is the advanced shooting course of the Leopard Aircraft, 7 operating courses in tactical teaching and 8 maintenance courses, which is technical teaching. And of the internships, we have 2 tactical internships, 2 maintenance internships, 1 operation internship. In fact, these maintenance and operation internships differ from the courses only by duration.

And they are shorter in duration due to the complexity of the platform. They are platforms with less embedded technology that allow the instructions to be administered in a shorter time. We have the internship of a commander of an armed and mechanized military organization, an internship of fleet management, which is an area internship, and 4 electives for cadets, which are like sectorial internships.

The target audience is a center that encompasses virtually all daily military commands. The army's workforce today has just over 200,000 soldiers, and 30,000 soldiers spread over 93 military organizations operate more than 2,000 armored or mechanized platforms. So this is the target audience, the Brazilian army with a workforce of just over 200,000, and 30,000 are users of the knowledge passed here in the Armored Instruction Center.

This gives approximately 15% of the army's workforce. So, it is necessary to assume that today 15% of the army's workforce depends or drinks from the source of the knowledge that is disseminated here in the Armored Instruction Center. In troops of these natures.

So, the blue circles are schools, schools of logistics sergeants, military academy of black needles and schools of sergeants of arms. The yellow circles are mechanized infantry units. The gray circles are logistic AMs that support brigades, mechanized and armored units.

The red circles are mechanized cavalry units. And the green units are armored units. In addition to courses and internships, we meet several requests for instruction cooperation here in the center.

This example is only from this year, from the current year. We received 3,537 soldiers in cooperation support. So, it is noteworthy to highlight units of other forces.

The amphibious vehicle battalion of the Brazilian Navy, of the Naval Rifle Corps. The armored battalion, also of the Brazilian Navy. And the 1st and 3rd of the 10th aviation group of the Brazilian Air Force.

These units receive doctrinal instruction here in the center and also participate in virtual simulation. Army education establishments. We receive the schools of sergeants, the school of sergeants of arms, the school of sergeants of logistics and the school of improvement of sergeants of arms.

Which also conducts the course of joint command. It also frequents the instruction center here. The schools of officers, the AMAN, which is responsible for the formation of the officers.

The ESAO of improvement and the school of command of the higher state for the high studies. We also receive the military engineering institute, the school of military intelligence of the army. Nucleus of preparation of reserve officers, centers of preparation of reserve officers, the military school of Santa Maria.

And here a curiosity, the SMA means United States Military Academy. That is, it is the military academy of the United States, the military academy of West Point. Which also frequents the armored instruction center here.

And the urban operations instruction center and the special operations instruction center, already come here on another level. It is not just an instruction visit, they have doctrinal instruction. The center participates in the phase, the urban operations center, it conducts the urban operations internship.

And the moment they approach the discipline of armored employment in urban operations, there is a very strong participation of our center. And the special operations instruction center, during the special forces course, we have two participations. A generic for all members of the course, there in Niterói, one week.

And then a specific part for the sergeants, who are specializing in the employment of the armament. It's here in the armored instruction center, one week too. And army troops, who do doctrinal instruction or certifications.

We have the army aviation battalion, the military intelligence battalion. All car combat regiments, all armored cavalry regiments. And a task force composed of the paratrooper cavalry squadron and the 26th BIPQDT.

Totaling this workforce of more than 3,500 soldiers per year. The center also acts as an international cooperation vector. Conducting activities in Brazil for foreigners and us, taking part in activities abroad.

So, on the left side of the screen, we have the activities in Brazil. On the left side and above, we have the flags of the countries that took courses here. So, students from these countries took courses at the armored instruction center.

So, we have the ability to receive soldiers from friendly nations in our courses. We already received Uruguayans, Argentines, Paraguayans, Peruvians, Bolivians, Ecuadorians, Suriname and Namibian military. And at the bottom and left, we have the flag of the countries that came here in exchange, as instructors.

So, we already had instructors here in the center of Turkey, Germany, the United States and Argentina. From the United States and Argentina, it is convenient to note that this exchange remains to this day. And practically became a permanent mission for these countries.

Today, we have a North American sergeant here, appointed for two years. Every two years, he is replaced and the mission remains. And we have two Argentine military, an officer and a sergeant, with a duration of approximately one year.

Also a permanent mission. Every year, these instructors are replaced, but the mission remains. And on the right side of the screen, we have flags of countries that we went to seek knowledge abroad or, in a way, help them.

So, in terms of courses, visits and conferences, the armored instruction center participated in activities in the Arab Emirates, Canada, Italy, Colombia, Chile, Germany, England, Finland, the United States, Portugal, Denmark, Uruguay and Argentina. The central countries are usually the headquarters of symposiums and conferences that we take part in. Some of these countries have routes that interest us, so we went to visit the routes.

And particularly Uruguay and Argentina, we have a very large partnership with these countries and we work in several joint operations. So, there is this exchange of both military there giving instruction and them giving instruction here in our center. And on the right and below, in the same way that we have foreigners here, we have Brazilian military giving armored instruction in these countries.

In Colombia, Chile, the United States and Paraguay. The role of the center, the armored instruction center, it works with three main branches. The first of them and the basis of our pyramid is the teaching.

Without the teaching, we would cease to be an instruction center. But we have complementary activities here too. One of them is the doctrine, which has been growing more and more, and the other is the preparation.

About the training of the armored troop, I will address first and most importantly for the center, which is the teaching branch. Here we work to develop competencies in the military, which here are designated to do in course. So, when the officer and sergeant are appointed, the idea is for us to develop a new competence in them.

Be it an armored operational competence, be it an armored maintenance competence. And our teachers usually say that to develop a competence, I have to hit this key mnemonic, which is C for knowledge, H for ability, A for attitude, V for values and E for experiences. I say that this knowledge and ability, that is, the military who comes here to do the course, he leaves here knowing and knowing how to do it.

He knows how to operate the system of military employment material and leaves as a military researcher. So, he is a military researcher, he does not follow the scientific rigor that a university student follows, for example, but he knows how to solve a military problem. If he comes across a certain problem, he knows how to find a source of consultation, follows a logical methodology to solve this problem and has a positive or negative result.

This is written and we can disseminate and disseminate to the armored troop. So, this aspect of knowledge and ability, the instruction center does 100%. As far as attitude and values are concerned, wanting to do it and why you are doing it, it has its role in operationality, but the center has little management.

Since we do not have any charge in the selection process of the military who comes here. So, we believe that this selection process that is done by the army in general, it already selects military with attitudes and values consistent with what we cultivate here. And in the last aspect, the experiences.

When the military has an experience and he comes across a problem, he remains calm regardless of the chaotic situation in which he is. And we use simulation as a catalyst for experiences. If I had to go through stressful situations or a combat simulation or a combat situation to acquire an experience, it would take a long time and it would be very expensive.

So, we use simulation as a catalyst for these experiences. In a short time, it can make our student acquire several experiences. We work with these platforms, which I will narrate now.

Within the Engesa family, we have the Cascavel on the left and the Urutu on the right. We have the chassis maintenance stage of these vehicles and the tower maintenance. Within the M family, the Mike family, the North American family, we have the M60 on the left and above.

We have the M60 operation stage, the M113 vehicle on the right and above. We have the operation course and the chassis maintenance course of the M113 vehicle. Within the M family, below and on the left, we have the M109, we have the chassis maintenance course, the tower maintenance course and the M109 operation course.

On the right and below, we have the M578, we also have the operation course of this vehicle. The Leopard family is the family that we have the most courses. Above and on the left, we have the Leopard vehicle with a cannon.

We have the Leopard operation course. We have the maintenance course of the weapons system. And we have a chassis maintenance course that includes the whole family.

On the right, we have the Leopard launch vehicle operation course. On the left and in the central position, we have the Leopard engineering armored vehicle operation course. And on the right side, we have the rescue vehicle, the recovery, which we also have the operation course.

On the far right, we have the image of a cannon firing, which represents the advanced shooting course, which is our extension course. This extension course has as a prerequisite that the military has carried out the operation course of the Leopard combat vehicle. Below, we also have the Guarani family.

We have the operation course, the chassis maintenance course and the weapons system maintenance course. Because the Guarani has several versions with different armaments. Below and on the right, we have two stages that are more theoretical, but they allow a large workforce and allow a rapid diffusion of knowledge.

They are the stage of military organization commander and the stage of fleet management. The stage of military organization commander is intended to make a quick update of all the military designated as military organization commander, armored, mechanized or support logistics to the first. So, the appointed commander spends a week here at the Armored Instruction Center to update their relative knowledge.

The platforms that provide the unit he will command. And the fleet management stage aims to update the contractual rules that govern, mainly the contracts of the integrated logistics system that regulate the logistics of the various armored families that we have. We also have the tactical stages.

The tactical stage on lizards, which is the armored sub-unit task force. And the tactical stage of explorers squadron. And these three below, they are not yet in operation, but we are working to put them into operation from 2024 or 2025, depending on the arrival of the military employment material that has already been acquired or is still in the acquisition phase.

They are the stage or course of the Spike anti-car missile, the course of tower maintenance, chassis maintenance, operation course and advanced shooting course for the Centauro cavalry combat armored vehicle, and also the operation course and chassis maintenance course of the 4x4 multi-tasking armored vehicle. In terms of the doctrinal aspect, the center has an important role in the doctrinal formulation up to the sub-unit level. So for that, we use three periodicals.

We have from right to left. The commander's briefcase, which has the monthly periodicity, once a month. The commander of the armored sub-unit, supported by some military in the center, who has some specific knowledge in a certain area, we make an article to disseminate this knowledge.

In the center we have the FORJA, it is a semestral periodical, quite technical, which usually comes to consolidate knowledge acquired as a result of problems that were found in the unit. So a certain unit has a problem, the military do their best to solve this problem, follow a certain methodology, we put it on paper in the form of an article and disseminate this knowledge. If the same problem occurs in another unit, this knowledge is already disseminated.

And if this problem becomes recurring, we update our discipline plans and we start to address this problem in our courses and internships. The solution to this problem. And annually we have the Shock Action, which is a slightly more elaborate magazine, with slightly more elaborate articles.

And we usually invite military personnel who have more in-depth knowledge on the subject. We also developed a series of reports and memoirs, either to support the decision in the various strategic programs of which we were part, or about some type of accident that has occurred. And the goal, when some type of accident occurs, is that the center participates in the sense of identifying the contributing factors of the accident and developing a standard operational procedure so that problems of the same nature do not occur again.

And the decision support memorials aim to support or provide support for a future decision by the authorities that decide the course of the armored troop. The strategic programs. Within the strategic programs, we have the armored forces program, of which the instruction center is part.

We are part of several projects within the armored forces program. From left to right. On the left and above we have the acquisition of the armored multi-tasking vehicle 4x4.

32 were acquired and the forecast is that at least 77 will be acquired. And the center has an effective participation in this project. We have the modernization project of the cascavel vehicle.

Today it is taking place at the São Paulo War Arsenal. We have the acquisition project of the Centauro 8x8 cavalry VBC. Today we have people participating in its evaluation in Italy.

Below we have the modernization project of the Leopard vehicle. Today we have people working on the analysis of the proposals of the companies. Then the two that are shaded there.

The armored combat vehicle of riflemen and the armored combat vehicle, combat car. We are working on a prospect of a new family to replace our M113 and the Leopard. We also have the Spike anti-car missile with the expected receipt for 2024.

We also participate in the development of the armored combat vehicle Mortar. It is a version of the Guarani vehicle. In fact, all of these are versions of the Guarani vehicle.

The special armored engineering vehicle is also under development. And we also participate in the initiation directory or the manufacture of the initiation directory. And all the documentation that encompasses this is from the armored anti-aircraft combat vehicle, the special armored vehicle for direction and fire control, the special armored vehicle for command post, the special armored vehicle for communications, and the special armored vehicle for ambulance.

In terms of preparation, the Center, due to having a simulation square dedicated to the teaching of the Leopard, with procedure simulators, with synthetic trainers, we use, in addition to the teaching of these platforms, we also use to assist in the preparation of the ground force. So the procedure simulators, above and on the left, we have two. The tower procedure simulator and the driver procedure simulator.

What is a procedure simulator? It is a simulator that makes the interface between the fighter and the machine. They are at the base of the teaching pyramid.

And the synthetic trainers, on the right and above, we have on the left the synthetic trainers, the portable synthetic trainers, and on the right, the synthetic armored trainer. The portable, each cabin there, is the station of a fighter. So there is the driver's station, the shooter's station, the armored vehicle commander's station, and the instructor's station.

Four cabins, I can assemble a garrison, simulates an armored vehicle. And the synthetic armored trainer, those large cabins that you see on the right and above, each of these cabins represents an armored vehicle. So it has the location of the driver, the shooter and the commander.

So four armored vehicles, a squad. I can already introduce a tactical component in this training. And closer is the instructor's station.

The synthetic trainer is intended to make the interface of the fighter with the machine itself, because the machine is there, but mainly with a scenario. I can put adverse weather conditions, I can put an enemy that reacts to the action. So it complements this training.

Below, on the left, I have the D7, our tactical engagement simulation device. It acts like a paintball, but with a laser, and I can adapt it to the armored vehicle. So the soldier is training on the vehicle itself, feeling the weight of the vehicle, hearing the engine roar.

But all the shooting, all the engagement, is done with laser. Generating an economy of ammunition and allowing the duel. And below, on the right, we have the tactical virtual simulator, which is intended for tactical training.

The tactical techniques and procedures of the troops. So we use all this simulation structure primarily for our courses and internships, for teaching. But as it is a noble structure, we also use it in a complementary way to contribute to the preparation of our troops.

So, what about the preparation? This is the preparation cycle, the certification cycle of the armored troop, of the CC troop, of the combat vehicle. So, how is it done?

On the left, you check the commander, the four fighters, the commander, the driver, the shooter and the shooter's assistant. Which is the soldier responsible for loading the cannon. How is the certification of these soldiers done?

These soldiers are trained in their units, in the combat vehicle regiments. In the armored instruction section, in the C-Blind, of the RCC. So, there in the armored instruction section of the RCC, these soldiers are trained and go through a certification.

By individual certification. And they are certified by the specialist that you see up there. This soldier up there, who is the instructor, this soldier is an officer and sergeant who was trained here by the armored instruction center.

This soldier is a specialist, able to perform the four functions. Shooter's assistant, shooter, driver and commander. And is able to train and certify these four functions.

Once certified individually, these four soldiers are placed inside the combat vehicle. And in the combat vehicle, the integration of the four members of the garrison is done. And then it happens, still in the armored instruction section of the regiments, the garrison certification.

Once the various garrisons are certified, I will assemble my troops. And four garrisons, four combat vehicles, as you see on the right, form a platoon. This platoon certification occurs here in the armored instruction center.

So, the platoon certification cycle is closed. What is the advantage of this model? The certification starts here at the C-BLIND with the formation of the specialist.

This specialist performs the individual certification and the garrison certification there in the unit. And then he conducts the platoon certification here in the armored instruction center. And the advantage is that once the cycle starts and ends here in the center, we can evaluate or validate this certification.

For example, once the platoon is certified here and it does not pass this certification, I can identify that there was a failure in the process and I can act. But since this model was adopted in 2010, we have not had any platoon that has not passed or has not been successfully certified here in the armored instruction center. In this way, the center can also contribute to the preparation of the armored and mechanized troops.

This is the leopard model, but it can be adopted with all armored and mechanized vehicles. So, we contribute with the individual, garrison, platoon and sub-unit certification. Then there is another unit, which is the south training center, which has this task.

And you will also have the exposure of how this is done there. Finally, and as a conclusion, I return to the main topics. The armored instruction center is an education establishment.

We are a military cooperation vector, while we receive and are in close contact with military of friendly nations. We are a core of specialists in a research center, from our doctrine section. We are part of the strategic program "Armored Forces" and we are a military certification organization in terms of certification for the forces of readiness, contributing to the preparation of the land force.

This is the slide of the armored instruction center, in which there are the QR codes of the center page, where there are all these newspapers that are produced here in the center. And on the right side, the Instagram of institutional disclosure of the Forge of the Armored Troop. Thank you very much for everyone's attention and have a good extension course!