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On Monday, March 10th, 2025, Commander Riccardo Chericoni ITA (N), Commanding Officer of the ITS “Paolo Thaon di Revel”, accompanied by the Italian Defence Attaché in Athens, Colonel Maurizio Ortenzi ITA (AF), visited NMIOTC.   During the visit, they paid an office call to NMIOTC Commandant, with whom discussed the Centre’s mission, role, training and transformational capabilities/activities.   NMIOTC Commandant expressed also his gratitude to the Italian Navy for supporting throughout the years the Centre with highly skilled and professional staff.        

From Tuesday, March 4th, 2025, to Friday, March 7th, 2025, NMIOTC delivered a 4 day Tailored Training to the 10-man boarding team of USS OSCAR AUSTIN (DDG79) in order to certify them in Advanced VBSS.   Since 2019, NMIOTC has been designated by U.S. 6th Fleet as a certification authority to provide C6F Advanced Deployment Certification for VBSS.  

On Monday, March 3rd, 2025, NMIOTC delivered a tailored training package to a 10-member Boarding Team from the ROS ‘Grigore Antipa’, in the context of the warship’s participation in the multinational EXER ARIADNE 25.   The trainees had the opportunity to increase situational awareness on maritime interdiction operations, intelligence gathering and WMD proliferation.  

On Wednesday, March 5th, 2025, the U.S. Defense Attaché – Senior Defense Official at the U.S. Embassy Athens, Captain Mark Imblum USN, accompanied by Mr. Christopher Dostal, Deputy Political Counsellor, visited NMIOTC.   During his visit, he paid an office call to NMIOTC Commandant, with whom he discussed the Centre’s mission, role, training and transformational capabilities/activities.       

From 10th to 21st of February 2025, NMIOTC supported, with a Mobile Education & Training Team (METT), the International Maritime Exercise (IMX) 2025, in Aqaba, Jordan. The Centre deployed two (2) Sea Trainers/Instructors to deliver Underwater C-IED Disposal and Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) training to IMX25 participants. Photos below by Sgt. Thomas Brown, U.S. Army, captured moments of the training and a Casualty Evacuation (CASEVAC) practice on February 11th and 19th. IMX25 was a major multinational training event in the Middle East, led by U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT), which involved 5,000 personnel from more than 30 Nations

From 24th to 28th February 2025, NMIOTC delivered the Resident Course 10000 “Maritime Interdiction Operations in Support of Countering Illicit Trafficking At Sea”. Course aim was to enhance participants’ skills in identifying criminal activities regarding illicit trafficking at sea, and to train them on successfully engaging in law enforcement and security practices in the maritime environment.   In total, seven (7) trainees from six (6) NATO countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Greece, Türkiye and USA) attended the course. Subject Matter Experts from Hellenic Police, the Hellenic Navy and the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) provided support to the course