The Italian Army is the land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China, Libya, Northern Italy against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, Abyssinia before World War II and in World War II in Albania, Balkans, North Africa, the Soviet Union, and Italy itself. During the Cold War, the army prepared itself to defend against a Warsaw Pact invasion from the east. Since the end of the Cold War, the army has seen extensive peacekeeping service and combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter, recently deployed in UN missions. The headquarters of the Army General Staff are located in Rome opposite the Quirinal Palace, where the president of Italy resides. The army is an all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel.
The 104th Infantry Division "Mantova" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during the Second World War. The Mantova was named for the city of Mantua and classified as an auto-transportable division, meaning it had some motorized transport, but not enough to move the entire division at once.
The 20th Infantry Division "Friuli" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Friuli was formed on 24 August 1939 by splitting the 20th Infantry Division "Curtatone e Montanara" into the Friuli and the 44th Infantry Division "Cremona". The Friuli was named for the region of Friuli, but based in Tuscany, where it also recruited most of its troops. The division's headquarter and its regiments, with the exception of the 87th Infantry Regiment located in Siena, were based in Livorno. The division served as occupation force on Corsica and fought German units after the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September 1943. The division then served with the Italian Co-belligerent Army and remained active into the early stages of the Cold War.
The 44th Infantry Division "Cremona" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Cremona was formed on 24 August 1939 by splitting the 20th Infantry Division "Curtatone and Montanara" into the 20th Infantry Division "Friuli" and 44th Infantry Division "Cremona". The division was named for the city of Cremona. The division served as occupation force on Corsica and fought German units after the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September 1943. The division then served with the Italian Co-belligerent Army and remained active until the 1975 Italian Army reform.
The 58th Infantry Division "Legnano" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Legnano's predecessor division was formed on 8 February 1934 in Milan and named for the medieval Battle of Legnano. On 24 May 1939 the division split to form the 6th Infantry Division "Cuneo" and the 58th Infantry Division "Legnano". After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile the Legnano resisted the invading German forces. The division's staff and 67th Infantry Regiment "Legnano" were used to form the first unit of the Italian Co-belligerent Army, which fought on the allied side in the Italian campaign. On 17 February 1944 the division's last units joined other commands and the division was officially dissolved.
The 152nd Infantry Division "Piceno" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Piceno was formed on 20 February 1942 and named for the region of Piceno. The Piceno was classified as an occupation infantry division, which meant that the division's artillery regiment consisted of two artillery groups instead of the three artillery groups of line infantry divisions and that the divisional mortar battalion was replaced by a divisional machine gun battalion.
Umberto Utili (1895–1952) was an Italian general known for his service with the Italian Co-belligerent Army in 1943–1945.
The III Army Corps was one of three corps the Italian Army fielded during the Cold War. Based in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont the corps was the army's operational reserve, while the 4th Alpine Army Corps and the 5th Army Corps, both based in the North East of Italy, were the army's front-line units. After the end of the Cold War the corps was reduced in size and on 1 December 2000 it ceded its last brigades to the 1st Defence Forces Command. The personnel of the 3rd Army Corps was used to raise the NATO Rapid Deployable Italian Corps in January 2001.
The V Army Corps was one of three corps the Italian Army fielded during the Cold War. Based in the regions of Veneto and Friuli-Venezia-Giulia the corps was the army's main combat force. The 5th Army Corps was arrayed close to the Yugoslavian border and tasked with meeting any Warsaw Pact forces that crossed the border. On the left flank of the corps the 4th Alpine Army Corps was tasked with blocking the Alpine passes and in the rear of the corps the 3rd Army Corps served as operational reserve. After the end of the Cold War the corps was reduced in size and on 1 October 1997 it became the 1st Defence Forces Command. In 2013 the COMFOD 1° was disbanded and its function and brigades taken over by the 20th Infantry Division Friuli in Florence.
The Mechanized Brigade "Mantova" was a mechanized brigade of the Italian Army. Its core units were mechanized infantry battalions. The brigade's headquarters was in the city of Cividale del Friuli and all the brigade's units were based in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. In 2003, the "Mantova" was raised again as a division command.
The Mechanized Brigade "Legnano" was a mechanized brigade of the Italian Army. Its core units were mechanized infantry battalions. The brigade's headquarters was in the city of Bergamo in Lombardy. The name of the brigade commemorates the Lombard League victory in the Battle of Legnano in 1176 and its coat of arms depicts the Monument to the Warrior of Legnano in the centre of Legnano.
The Italian Liberation Corps was a corps of the Italian Co-belligerent Army during the Italian campaign of World War II. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the Italian government began the formation of units to fight on the allied side against Germany. On 18 April 1944 the Italian Liberation Corps was formed, which after an intense cycle of combat operations was disbanded on 24 September 1944 to form division-sized combat groups.
The Logistic Regiment "Pozzuolo del Friuli" is a military logistics regiment of the Italian Army based in Remanzacco in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The battalion was formed in 1976 as Logistic Battalion "Mantova" and assigned to the Mechanized Division "Mantova". After the division was disbanded in 1986 the battalion was reorganized as a corps logistic battalion, renamed 8th Maneuver Logistic Battalion "Carso" and assigned to the 5th Army Corps. In 1994, the battalion was reorganized as 8th Maneuver Logistic Regiment "Carso". Today the regiment is the logistic unit of the Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli". The regiment's anniversary falls, as for all units of the Italian Army's Transport and Materiel Corps, on 22 May, the anniversary of the Royal Italian Army's first major use of automobiles to transport reinforcements to the Asiago plateau to counter the Austro-Hungarian Asiago Offensive in May 1916.
The 107th Signal Battalion "Predil" is a signals unit of the Italian Army. The battalion was formed in 1946 and assigned to the Infantry Division "Mantova". In 1975, the battalion was named for the Predil Pass and received the number 107th, which had been used by the 107th Teleradio Company that had served with the Combat Group "Mantova" during the Italian campaign of World War II. With the name and number the battalion also received its own flag. In 1991, the battalion was disbanded. In 2002, the battalion was reformed and assigned to the 7th Signal Regiment as the regiment's second signal battalion. The battalion's anniversary falls, as for all signal units, on 20 June 1918, the day the Austro-Hungarian Army began its retreat across the Piave river during the Second Battle of the Piave River.
The 87th Infantry Regiment "Friuli" is an active unit of the Italian Army based in Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna. The regiment is named for the region of Friuli and part of the Italian Army's infantry arm. On 1 October 2022 the name, flag and traditions of the regiment were assigned to the Command and Tactical Supports Unit "Friuli" of the Airmobile Brigade "Friuli".
The 21st Infantry Regiment "Cremona" is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Alessandria in Piedmont. The regiment is named for the city of Cremona and part of the Italian Army's infantry arm. The regiment was formed in 1848 by the Royal Sardinian Army during the First Italian War of Independence. After the war the regiment was disbanded. In 1859, the regiment was reformed after the Kingdom of Sardinia annexed Lombardy after the Second Italian War of Independence. In 1866, the regiment fought in the Third Italian War of Independence. During World War I the regiment fought on the Italian front.
The 7th CIMIC Regiment is a Civil-Military Co-operation regiment of the Italian Army based in Motta di Livenza in Veneto. The regiment is assigned to the Tactical Intelligence Brigade. In 1926, the Royal Italian Army formed the 7th Engineer Regiment in Florence. During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War and World War II the regiment's depot formed engineer battalions and smaller units, which deployed with divisions and corps to the fronts of the war. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 the regiment was disbanded by invading German forces. In 1944, the Italian Co-Belligerent Army formed the CIV Mixed Engineer Battalion for the Combat Group "Mantova", which fought on the allied side in the Italian campaign of World War II.
The 120th Infantry Regiment "Emilia" is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Ipplis. The regiment is named for the region of Emilia and part of the Italian Army's infantry arm.
The 114th Infantry Regiment "Mantova" is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Tricesimo. The regiment is named for the city of Mantova and part of the Italian Army's infantry arm.
The 155th Artillery Regiment "Emilia" is an inactive field artillery regiment of the Italian Army, which was based in Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally an artillery regiment of the Royal Italian Army, the regiment was assigned in World War II to the 155th Infantry Division "Emilia", with which the regiment was deployed to occupied Montenegro. After the announcement of the Armistice of Cassibile the division and regiment battled Wehrmacht forces near Kotor and then escaped over the Adriatic Sea to Apulia in Southern Italy, where the survivors joined the Italian Co-belligerent Army. In October 1944 the regiment joined the Combat Group "Mantova", which was earmarked to join the British Eighth Army, but the war ended before the Combat Group "Mantova" reached the front. During the Cold War the regiment was assigned to the Infantry Division "Mantova" and from 1976 the Mechanized Division "Folgore". The unit was disbanded in 1992. The regimental anniversary falls, as for all Italian Army artillery regiments, on June 15, the beginning of the Second Battle of the Piave River in 1918.
Kingdom of Italy 
Royal Italian Army 
