End of Course at CCOPAB
Students highlight the high level of the course and compliment CCOPAB
VILA MILITAR, RJ - On May 30, another edition of UN MilObs/Staff Officer/ Police Officer Courses (EPMP) came to an end with a ceremony to deliver the certificates. The course lasted for ten weeks, from which the last four were carried out at the Brazilian Peace Operations Joint Training Center (CCOPAB) and given in the English language, since knowing this language is a fundamental requirement for the ones participating in this kind of UN mission.
Having different theoretical instructions, but basically composed of practical ones, either carried out in CCOPAB's facilities or in the Instruction Field of Gericinó, in Deodoro-RJ, the objective of the course is to prepare the military personnel to execute assignments of UN Military Observers, Staff and Police Officers.
According to Major Átila Mesadri Pezzetta, from the State Police of Rio Grande do Sul, the course is essential to carry out such a mission. He has been assigned to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and this will be his second peace mission, since he worked for the UN in East Timor in 2012. For his first mission, Major Átila did not attend EPMP and he thinks if he had, the accomplishment of the mission would have been easier, since he had to learn everything by doing. Now, putting together a past experience with the content seen during the course, he feels much more at ease to carry out his tasks as a UN Police Officer. "The level of the course is extremely high! I will certainly recommend that my workmates assigned to other missions take the course at CCOPAB. I consider the training of our military personnel one of the best in the world" - stated Major Átila.
According to Major Marcos Afonso de Carvalho Quintella, from the Air Force and also assigned to UNMISS, the preparation of the Brazilians who go to this type of mission is divided between the before and after the conception of EPMP. "The course is a watershed. Almost everything we apply on the field, during the mission, is seen in the exercises we accomplish."
Thirteen officers from the Army, four from the Navy, four from the Air Force and three police officers from different states successfully completed the course. They are now waiting to go to the missions to which they have been assigned, and they are more confident after the knowledge acquired during the course.
TRANSLATION: CPT Ana Cardoso
