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The scenario that was used during Spring Flag 2008 perfectly resembled the current situations modern armed forces might
be confronted with: ethnic conflicts with UN involvement.
In the fictitious "Esmeralda Arcipele" there are three islands, each one representing a sovereign nation: Carbonium (Sardinia), Trinacrium (Sicily) and Bonifacium (Corsica).
Sicily and Corsica form a pact which leads to a claim for independence of the Sicilians living at Sardinia. This ethnic minority forms a rebellion army, and only after a intervention
by the United Nations a cease fire is reached. However, the UN forces are being attacked and thousands of civilians get killed or displaced.
Spring Flag kicks in when intelligence reports state that Sicily and Corsica might be preparing for an invasion in Sardinia. This confronts the
"Blue Forces", based at Decimomannu, with the "Red Forces" from Trapani.
An interesting part of the exercise were the CSAR operations. When a group of helicopters was scrambled to rescue a pilot,
SF260's moved out to attack the rescue operation. Slow moving MB339's would then rush into the action to kill these 'bandits'.
In normal circumstances the SF260's are in use as training aircraft, but during Spring Flag they were perfectly suited to fullfil
their role of small but deadly agressors.
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