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Italian Army

Coat of Arms of the Italian Army; the text in Latin reads: The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law.
Active 27 March, 1861 - today
Country Italy
Allegiance Italian Republic
Type army
Size 112,000
Part of Italian Supreme Defense Council
Garrison/HQ Rome
Motto Salus Rei Publicae Suprema Lex Esto
Engagements Risorgimento
War of 1866
First Italo-Abyssinian War
Italo-Turkish War
World War I
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
Spanish Civil War
Italian invasion of Albania
World War II
Iraq War
War in Afghanistan
War on Terrorism
Commanders
President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano
Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito
(Chief of the Army General Staff)		 Generale Fabrizio Castagnetti
Notable
commanders		 Giuseppe Garibaldi, Armando Diaz, Luigi Cadorna, Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta, Enrico Caviglia, Ettore Bastico, Emilio De Bono, Ugo Cavallero, Pietro Badoglio, Rodolfo Graziani
Giovanni Messe
Dardo IFV on exercise in Capo Teulada
Dardo IFV on exercise in Capo Teulada
Soldiers of the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment "Acqui" on parade
Soldiers of the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment "Acqui" on parade

The Italian Army (Esercito Italiano) is the ground defense force of the Military of Italy. On July 29, 2004 it became a professional all-volunteer force of 112,000 active duty personnel.citation needed The headquarters of the Army General Staff are in Rome, opposite the Presidential Palace.

Contents

History

The Italian Army originated as the Royal Army (Regio Esercito) which dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy following the seizure of the Papal States and the unification of Italy (Risorgimento). In 1861, under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy was invited to take the throne of the newly independent kingdom.

The Italian Royal Army's first real taste of modern warfare was during World War I. Most of the actions were fought in northern Italy and the Royal Army suffered millions of casualties. This included over 700,000 dead.

During the Interwar Years the Royal Army participated in the Italian Invasion of Ethiopia, provided men and materials during the Spanish Civil War to fight in the Corps of Volunteer Troops (Corpo Truppe Volontarie), and launched the Italian invasion of Albania.

World War II

See also: Military history of Italy during World War II

The Royal Army was one of the largest ground forces in World War II and it was one of the pioneers in the use of paratroopers. Due to the generally smaller size, many Italian divisions were reinforced by an Assault Group (Gruppo di Assalto) of two battalions of Blackshirts (MVSN).

Reports of Italian military prowess in the Second World War were, almost always, dismissive. This being the result of disastrous Italian offensives against Egypt and Greece in 1940. Both campaigns were ill-prepared and executed amateurishly. I.e. The Italian Italian 10th Army advancing into Egypt surrendered after a brief campaign (see Operation Compass) to a British force one fifth its size.

The incompetent military leadership of the first war year was aggravated by the Italian military's equipment, which was not up to the standard of either the Allied or the German armies.[1] More crucially, Italy lacked suitable quantities of equipment of all kinds and high command did not take necessary steps to plan for possible setbacks on the battlefield or proper logistic support of its field armies. There were too few anti-aircraft weapons, obsolete anti-tank guns, too few trucks and the Italian 'medium' M11, M13 and M14 tanks were at a marked disadvantage against the comparatively heavily armed American Sherman 'light' tanks.

The Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia fought bravely under General Giovanni Messe, who acknowledged the limitations of his Corps in material and equipment and thus was relieved of his command on November 1, 1942. When the Soviet offensive Operation Saturn began on December 12, 1942 the the Italian 8th Army was quickly crushed and only about a third of its troops managed to escape the Soviet cauldron; notably the three Alpini Divisions Tridentina, Julia and Cuneense fought stubbornly and to almost their total annihilation to escape the Soviet encirclement (see: Battle of Nikolayevka).

The Italian Armored Division Ariete and the Parachute Division Folgore fought to total annihilation at the Second Battle of El Alamein. Also determined resistance of the Italian soldiers at the Battle of Keren in East Africa is still commemorated today by the Italian military.

After the Axis defeat in Tunisia the morale of the Italian troops dipped and when the Allies landed in Sicily on July 10, 1943 most Italian Coastal divisions simply dissolved. The sagging moral led to the overthrow of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini by King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy 15 days later.

In September 1943, Italy surrendered and split into the Italian Social Republic in the north and "Badoglio's government" in the south. The Italian Co-Belligerent Army (Esercito Cobelligerante Italiana) was the army of the Italian royalist forces fighting on the side of the Allies in southern Italy after the Allied armistice with Italy in September 1943. The Italians soldiers fighting in this army no longer fought for Benito Mussolini as their allegiance was to King Victor Emmanuel and to Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia) Pietro Badoglio, the men who ousted Mussolini.

Post war

The kingdom was replaced by a Republic in 1946 and the Royal Army changed its name to become the Italian Army (Esercito Italiano).

The Italian Army has participated in operations to aid to populations hit by natural disasters. It has, moreover, supplied a remarkable contribution to the forces of police for the control of the territory of the Alto Adige (1967), in Sardinia ("Paris" 1992), in Sicily ("Vespri Siciliani"1992) and in Calabria (1994). Currently, it protects sensitive objects and places throughout the national territory ("Operazione Domino") since the tragedy of 11 September 2001. The army is also engaged in Missions abroad under the aegis of the UN, the NATO, and of Multinational forces, such as Beirut in Lebanon (1982), Namibia (1989), Albania (1991), Kurdistan (1991), Somalia (1992), Mozambique (1993), Bosnia (1995), East Timor and Kosovo (both in 1999), the Congo (2001), Darfur (2003), Afghanistan (2002), Iraq (2003) and Lebanon again (2006).

The Carabinieri, once the senior corps of the Army, is now an autonomous armed force (alongside the Army, Navy and Air Force). The Carabinieri provides military police services to all the Italian armed force.

Command structure

The Armed Forces of Italy are under the command of the Italian Supreme Defense Council, presided over by the President of the Italian Republic. The Italian Army is commanded by the SME or "Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito" (Chief of the Army General Staff) in Rome. The Chief of staff has direct control of all support and logistics operations in Italy (i.e. military clinics, repair facilities, acquisitions,…), but no direct control of the operational forces, which are all assigned to and commanded by COMFOTER: "Comando delle Forze Operative Terrestri" (Command of Operational Land Forces).

Operational forces

See also: List of active units of the Italian Army

COMFOTER has direct command on a NATO rapid reaction Corps Command (NRDC-IT), of four support brigades (Artillery, Air Defense, Logistics, Engineering), as well as command of the Army Aviation, the Army Communication and Transmission command and of three commands called COMFOD 1, COMFOD 2 and COMALP, which between them command the actual 11 Italian combat Brigades. The attached units are in detail:

Structure of the Italian Army (click to enlarge).
Structure of the Italian Army (click to enlarge).

NRDC-IT

The NRDC or "NATO Rapid Deployable Corps" is located in Solbiate Olona and has a support brigade at its dependency, formed by:

  • Support Brigade in Solbiate Olona (Lombardy)
    • 1° Signal Regiment in Milan (Lombardy)
    • (33°) Logistic Support Regiment in Solbiate Olona (Lombardy)

COMALP

"Comando Truppe Alpine" (Alpine Troops Command) or COMALP has command over the professional Mountain Troops of the Italian Army, called "Alpines", in Italian Alpini. It is located in Bolzano and consist of the following units:

Alpini from the Taurinense Brigade.
Alpini from the Taurinense Brigade.

COMFOD 1

An NH90 Helicopter of the Italian Army
An NH90 Helicopter of the Italian Army

"Commando Forze di Difesa 1" or COMFOD 1 resides in the north-eastern city of Vittorio Veneto (Veneto) and commands the most specialized brigades of the Italian Army:

  • "Mantova" Infantry Division Command (without fixed units)
  • "Ariete" Armored Brigade in Pordenone (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
    • 4° Tank Regiment in Bellinzago Novarese (Piedmont) with 41 Ariete
    • 32° Tank Regiment in Tauriano (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) with 41 Ariete
    • 132° Tank Regiment in Cordenons (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) with 41 Ariete
    • 11° Bersaglieri mechanized Infantry Regiment in Orcenigo Superiore (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) with 59 Dardo
    • 132° Self Propelled Artillery Rgt. "Ariete" in Maniago (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) with 32 M109/L, which will be replaced within 2008 by the PzH 2000
    • 10° Engineer Regiment in Cremona (Lombardy)
    • "Ariete" Combat Service Support Battalion in Pordenone

COMFOD 2

"Commando Forze di Difesa 2" or COMFOD 2 resides in S. Giorgio a Cremano near Naples and commands 5 brigades. Three of those, the brigades "Aosta", "Pinerolo" and "Granatieri di Sardegna" are made up of one year volunteers and therefore intended for use mainly on Italian soil. The COMFOD 2 commands:

  • "Acqui" Division Command (without fixed units)
  • "Acqui" Combat Service Support Battalion in Naples
  • "Garibaldi" Bersaglieri Mechanized Brigade in Caserta (Campania)
    • 131° Tank Regiment in Persano (Campania) with 41 Ariete
    • 19 °Cavalry Regiment "Cavalleggeri Guide" in Salerno (Campania) with 50 Centauro and 33 Puma 4x4
    • 1° Bersaglieri Regiment in Cosenza (Calabria) with 59 Dardo
    • 8° Bersaglieri Regiment in Caserta (Campania) with 59 Dardo
    • 8° Self propelled Artillery Regiment "Pasubio" in Persano (Campania) with 21 PzH 2000
    • 21° Engineer Regiment in Caserta (Campania)
    • "Garibaldi" Combat Service Support Battalion in Caserta
Soldiers of the 8° Cavalry Regiment “Lancieri di Montebello”
Soldiers of the 8° Cavalry Regiment “Lancieri di Montebello”
Soldiers of the 6° Cavalry Regiment “Lancieri di Aosta”
Soldiers of the 6° Cavalry Regiment “Lancieri di Aosta”
Soldiers of the Sassari Brigade
Soldiers of the Sassari Brigade
  • "Granatieri di Sardegna" Mechanized Brigade in Rome (Lazio)
    • 1° "Granatieri di Sardegna" Mechanized Infantry Regiment in Rome (Lazio) with 41 Puma 6x6
    • 8° Cavalry Regiment "Lancieri di Montebello" in Rome (Lazio) with 50 Centauro and 33 Puma 4x4
    • 33° Self propelled Artillery Regiment "Acqui" in l'Aquila (Abruzzi) with 24 M109/L
    • "Granatieri di Sardegna" Combat Service Support Battalion in Rome
  • "Pinerolo" Mechanized Brigade in Bari (Apulia)
    • 31° Tank Regiment (Battle lab) in Altamura (Apulia)
    • 7° Bersaglieri Regiment in Bari (Apulia) with 59 VCC (M113 improved)
    • 9° Infantry Regiment "Bari" in Trani (Apulia) with 59 VCC (M113 improved)
    • 82° Infantry Regiment "Torino" in Barletta (Apulia) with 59 VCC (M113 improved)
    • 21° Self propelled Artillery Regiment "Trieste" in Foggia (Apulia) with 24 M109/L
    • 11° Engineer Regiment in Foggia (Apulia)
    • "Pinerolo" Combat Service Support Battalion in Bari
  • "Aosta" Mechanized Brigade Messina (Sicily)
    • 6° Cavalry Regiment "Lancieri d’Aosta" in Palermo (Sicily) with 50 Centauro and 33 Puma 4x4
    • 6° Bersaglieri Regiment in Trapani (Sicily) with 59 VCC (M113 improved)
    • 5° Infantry Regiment "Aosta" in Messina (Sicily) with 59 VCC (M113 improved)
    • 62° Infantry Regiment "Sicilia" in Catania (Sicily) with 59 VCC (M113 improved)
    • 24° Self propelled Artillery Regiment "Peloritani" in Messina (Sicily) with 24 M109/L
    • 4° Engineer Regiment in Palermo (Sicily)
    • "Aosta" Combat Service Support Battalion in Messina
  • "Sassari" Mechanized Brigade in Sassari (Sardinia)
    • 151° Infantry Regiment "Sassari" in Cagliari (Sardinia) with 59 VCC (M113 improved)
    • 152° Infantry Regiment "Sassari" in Sassari (Sardinia) with 59 VCC (M113 improved)
    • 5° Engineer Regiment in Macomer (Sardinia)

CoTIE

"Comando Trasmissioni e ed Informazioni dell’Esercito" or CoTIE is the Italian Army's Signal and Information Command, it resides in Anzio (Lazio) and consists of the following units:

  • Signal Brigade for Maneuver Support
    • 2° Signal Regiment (Alpini) in Bolzano with the Battalions:
    • 7° Signal Regiment in Sacile with the Battalions:
      • "Rolle"
      • "Predil"
    • 11° Signal Regiment in Civitavecchia (Lazio) with the Battalions:
      • "Leonessa"
      • "Tonale"
    • 232° Signal Regiment in Avellino (Campania) with the Battalion:
      • "Fadalto".
  • Signal Brigade for National Support
    • 3° Signal Regiment in Rome (Lazio) with the Battalions:
      • "Lanciano"
      • "Abetone"
      • "Gennargentu".
    • 32° Signal Regiment in Padova (Veneto) with the Battalions :
      • "Valles"
      • "Frejus".
    • 46° Signal Regiment in Palermo (Sicily) with the Battalions:
      • "Mongibello"
      • "Vulture".
  • C4-IEW ISTAR/C4 development and integration Brigade
    • RSISC4 regiment in Treviso (Veneto)

Army Aviation Command

The Army Aviation Command resides in Viterbo and includes the non combat flying formations of the Army (i.e. Transport Planes, support helicopters,…)

  • Army Aviation Instruction Center in Viterbo
    • 1° Squadron "Auriga" in Viterbo with 6 A129, 6 AB205, 6 AB 212, 6 AB412 and 47 AB 206
    • 2° Squadron "Sestante"
    • 21° Squadron "Orsa Maggiore" in Elmas (Cagliari) with 12 AB 205
  • Army Aviation Brigade

Air Defense Brigade

  • 4° Air Defense Regiment "Peschiera" in Mantova with 30 Hawk surface-to-air missile systems
  • 5° Air Defense Regiment "Pescara" in Rovigo with 30 Hawk surface-to-air missile systems
  • 17° Air Defense Regiment "Sforzesca" in Sabaudia with Skyguard "Aspide", SIDAM 25 and Stinger (2 Battalions)
  • 121° Air Defense Regiment "Ravenna" in Bologna with Skyguard "Aspide", SIDAM 25 and Stinger

Field Artillery Brigade

Engineering Brigade

  • 2° Bridge Engineers Regiment in Piacenza
  • 6° Pioneer Engineers Regiment in Rome
  • Railway Engineers Regiment in Castel Maggiore (near Bologna; 2 Battalions)

Logistics Brigade

  • 1° Maneuver Logistics Regiment in Rivoli
  • 6° Maneuver Logistics Regiment in Pisa (Tuscany)
  • 10° Maneuver Logistics Regiment in Persano (Campania)
  • 24° Maneuver Logistics Regiment (Alpini) "btg Dolomiti" in Merano (South Tyrol)
  • 1° Transport Regiment in Bellinzago Novarese
  • 6° Transport Regiment in Budrio
  • 8° Transport Regiment in Orzano
  • 10° Transport Regiment in Bari (Apulia)

Support units

The following support units are not under the command of COMFOTER and their role is exclusively the support of units on Italian soil. They are commanded by various sub staffs of the SME- Army General Staff in Rome.

  • Training Brigade in Capua
    • 17° Infantry Regiment "Acqui" in Capua
    • 47° Infantry Regiment "Ferrara" in Capua
    • 57° Infantry Battalion "Abruzzi" in Sora
    • 80° Infantry Regiment "Roma" in Cassino
    • 85° Infantry Regiment "Verona" in Montorio Veronese
    • 91° Training Battalion "Lucania" in Potenza
    • 123° Infantry Regiment "Chieti" in Chieti
    • 235° Infantry Regiment "Piceno" in Ascoli Piceno
  • other Training units:
    • 1° Tank Regiment in Capo Teulada (Sardinia)
  • Technical Support and Logistics units:
    • Military Region North
    • Military Region South
      • 44° Signal Support Regiment in Rome
      • 1° Army Aviation Support Regiment "Idra" in Bracciano
      • 4° Army Aviation Support Regiment "Scorpione" in Viterbo
  • Others
    • 8° Transport Regiment "Casilina"
    • 11° Transport Battalion "Flaminia"
    • 57° Infantry Battalion "Abruzzi" in Rome

Effective operational capability

Collar patches worn by soldiers of the Italian Army.
Collar patches worn by soldiers of the Italian Army.

All brigades may be deployed outside Italy and are often involved in peace-keeping operations on foreign soil. The brigades are combat brigades, numbering between 3-7,000 troops each. These units are the pride of the Italian Army and are a front-line well-equipped force capable of dealing with most emergency situations. They are characterised by quality, efficiency, motivation and mobility. In total numbers the Italian Army can field about 85,000 ground troops out of a total Army strength of 112,000 men and women.

Units designated as regiments are large battalions which consist of a large Command, Logistics, and Support Company plus a combat battalion, which, in the case of the infantry (Alpini, Bersaglieri, Granatieri, Lagunari, Infantry) units, consists of:

3 or 4 Infantry Companies
1 Mortar/Weapons Company
1 Antitank Company

The naming has historical reasons. Most regiments are deployed singularly, especially the support brigades' regiments as adjuncts to combat units, formed for the task ahead.

Equipment

Weapons

Combat vehicles

Ariete
Ariete
Freccia
Freccia

Artillery

Aircraft inventory

PzH 2000
PzH 2000
MLRS
MLRS
A129 Mangusta
A129 Mangusta

The Italian Army operates 484 aircraft, including 471 helicopters.

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service[2] Notes
Agusta A129 Mangusta  Italy attack helicopter CBT 60
Agusta A109  Italy utility helicopter A109EOA 25
Bell 205  United States utility helicopter AB 205A 89 built by Agusta
Bell 206  United States utility helicopter AB 206A
AB 206B
56		 built by Agusta
Bell 212  United States transport helicopter AB 212 12 built by Agusta
Bell 412  United States transport helicopter AB 412 23 built by Agusta
Boeing CH-47 Chinook  United States transport helicopter CH-47C 36 built by Agusta
NHI NH90  European Union transport helicopter TTH 60
Dornier Do 228  Germany utility transport Do 228-200 3
Piaggio P180 Avanti  Italy utility transport P.180 M 3

Operations

A post-World War II peace treaty signed by Italy prevented the country from deploying military forces in overseas operations as well as possessing fixed-wing vessel-based aircraft for twenty-five years following the end of the war.

This treaty expired in 1970, but it would not be until 1982 that Italy first deployed troops on foreign soil, with a peacekeeping contingent being dispatched to Beirut following a United Nations request for troops. Since the 1980s, Italian troops have participated with other Western countries in peacekeeping operations across the world, especially in Africa, Balkan Peninsula and the Middle East.

As of yet, the Italian Army has not engaged in major combat operations since World War II; though Italian Special Forces have taken part in anti-Taliban operations in Afghanistan as part of Task Force 'Nibbio'. Italy was not yet a member of the United Nations in 1950, when that organization went to war with North Korea.

Italy did take part in the 1990-91 Gulf War but solely through the deployment of eight Italian Air Force Panavia Tornado IDS bomber jets to Saudi Arabia; Italian Army troops were subsequently deployed to assist Kurdish refugees in northern Iraq following the conflict.

As part of Operation Enduring Freedom in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, Italy contributed to the international operation in Afghanistan. Italian forces have contributed to