Italian Army

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Image:CoA Esercito Italiano.svg
Coat of Arms of the Italian Army
Image:Dardo 2.jpg
Dardo IFV on exercise in Capo Teulada
Image:Italian Soldiers on Parade.png
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 115,000 active duty personnel. The headquarters of the Army General Staff are in Rome, opposite the Presidential Palace.

Contents

[edit] 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).

[edit] 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:

Image:Italian Army.png
Structure of the Italian Army (click to enlarge).

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA brg NRDC IT.png NRDC-IT

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

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA cdo Comalp.jpg COMALP

Image:Br tau fotohome.jpg
Alpini from the Taurinense Brigade.

“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:

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA cdo Comfod 1.jpg COMFOD 1

Image:Esercito NH90.jpg
NH90 Helicopter of the Italian Army

“Comando 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:

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA cdo Comfod 2.jpg COMFOD 2

“Comando 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:

Image:8° Reggimento Lancieri di Montebello.png
Soldiers of the 8° Cavalry Regiment “Lancieri di Montebello”
Image:Lancieri di Aosta Training.jpg
Soldiers of the 6° Cavalry Regiment “Lancieri di Aosta”
Image:Brigata Sassari.png
Soldiers of the Sassari Brigade

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA cdo Cotie.jpg 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:

  • C4-IEW ISTAR/C4 development and integration Brigade
    • RSISC4 regiment in Treviso (Veneto)

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA AVES.jpg 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,…)

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA b aca.jpg Air Defense Brigade

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA brg Artiglieria.jpg Field Artillery Brigade

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA brg Genio.jpg Engineering Brigade

[edit] Image:CoA mil ITA b log.jpg Logistics Brigade

[edit] 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.

[edit] Effective operational capability

Image:Italian Army Collar Patches.png
Collar patches worn by soldiers of the Italian Army.

All brigades may be deployed outside Italy and are often involved in either war-fighting or 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. But although most units are designated as regiments they consist of one expanded Logistics, Support and Command company and a combat battalion, which- in the case of the infantry (Alpini, Bersaglieri, Granatieri, Lagunari, Fanti) units- consists of:

3 Infantry Companies
1 Mortar 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.

[edit] Equipment

[edit] Weapons

[edit] Combat vehicles

Image:Ariete.jpg
Ariete
Image:2june 2007 352.jpg
Freccia

[edit] Artillery

[edit] Aircraft inventory

Image:PzH2000 houwitser.png
PzH 2000
Image:Multiple Launch Rocket System.jpg
MLRS
Image:AgustaA129 03.jpg
A129 Mangusta

The Italian Army operates 484 aircraft, including 471 helicopters.

Aircraft Origin Type Versions In service[1] Notes
Agusta A129 Mangusta Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy attack helicopter CBT 60
Agusta A109 Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy utility helicopter A109A
A109EOA 		4
23
Bell 205 Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States utility helicopter AB 205A 89 built by Agusta
Bell 206 Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States utility helicopter AB 206A
AB 206B
56 		built by Agusta
Bell 212 Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States transport helicopter AB 212 12 built by Agusta
Bell 412 Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States transport helicopter AB 412 23 built by Agusta
Boeing CH-47 Chinook Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States transport helicopter CH-47C 36 built by Agusta
NHI NH90 Image:Flag of Europe.svg European Union transport helicopter TTH 60 on order
Dornier Do 228 Image:Flag of Germany.svg Germany utility transport Do 228-200 3
Piaggio P180 Avanti Image:Flag of Italy.svg Italy utility transport 3

[edit] 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 ISAF, the NATO force in Afghanistan, and a Provincial reconstruction team and 5 Italian soldiers have died under ISAF. Italy has sent 411 troops, based on one infantry company from the 2nd Alpini Regiment tasked to protect the ISAF HQ, one engineer company, one NBC platoon, one logistic unit, as well as liaison and staff elements integrated into the operation chain of command. Italian forces also command a multinational engineer task force and have deployed a platoon of Italian military police. Three AB 212 helicopters also were deployed to Kabul.

The Italian Army did not take part in combat operations of the 2003 Second Gulf War, dispatching troops only after May 1, 2003 - when major combat operations were declared over by the U.S. President George W. Bush. Subsequently Italian troops arrived in the late summer of 2003, and began patrolling Nasiriyah and the surrounding area. On 26 May, 2006, Italian foreign minister Massimo d'Alema announced that the Italian forces would be reduced to 1,600 by June. As of June 2006 32 Italian troops have been killed in Iraq - with the greatest single loss of life coming on November 12, 2003 - a suicide car bombing of the Italian Carabinieri Corps HQ left a dozen Carabinieri, five Army soldiers, two Italian civilians, and eight Iraqi civilians dead.

As of 2006, Italy ranks third in the world in number of military forces operating in peacekeeping and peace-enforcing scenarios Afghanistan, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lebanon following only the United States and United Kingdom.

A recent law promotes membership of the Italian Army guaranteeing volunteers post-Army careers in the Carabinieri, Italian State Police, Customs Police, State Forestry Department and other state bodies.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "World Military Aircraft Inventory", Aerospace Source Book 2007, Aviation Week & Space Technology, January 15 2007.

[edit] External links and Further Reading

Image:Flag of Italy.svg  v • d • e Military of Italy Image:Flag of Italy.svg
Image:CoA Esercito Italiano.svg Esercito Italiano (Army)  Image:CoA Marina Militare Italiana.svg Marina Militare (Navy)  Image:Stemma AMI.svg Aeronautica Militare (Air Force) Image:Coat of arms of the Carabinieri.svg Carabinieri (Military Police)
de:Esercito Italiano

es:Ejército italiano fr:Armée de terre italienne it:Esercito Italiano ja:イタリア陸軍 no:Esercito Italiano ru:Итальянская пехота

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