185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment Folgore

The 185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment "Folgore" is an airborne artillery regiment of the Italian army, part of the Paratrooper Brigade "Folgore".

The "Folgore" Brigade has always had the Artillery component, represented by the 1st Battery, then by the Paratrooper Field Group and then by the 185th Paratrooper Field Artillery Group "Viterbo", which in 1992 became the 185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment "Folgore". In 2000 it became the 185th Land Artillery Regiment (Paratrooper Target Acquisition "Folgore" until 2004 when it lost the "artillery" component and was transformed into the 185th Paratrooper Reconnaissance Target Acquisition Regiment "Folgore" (often abbreviated as 185° RRAO), a unit with specialized tasks for special operations.

In 2013 the 185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment "Folgore" was reborn, formed in Bracciano. The Regiment inherits the war flag and thus the traditions, from 2004 kept by the 185° RRAO of Livorno, passed to COMFOSE.

World War II

The history of paratrooper artillery traces its origins to the first unit established on August 28, 1941 in Tarquinia (VT): it was the I Paratrooper Artillery Group with 1st and 2nd anti-tank battery 47/32. In rapid succession, the II Group (3rd and 4th battery) was formed on January 15, '42 and subsequently the III Group (5th and 6th battery), Regiment Command and regimental support battery on March 10, 1942.

On July 27, 1942, with the African deployment of the Division, the artillery regiment for the Paratrooper Division assumed the name of 185th Artillery Regiment "Folgore". Sent to North Africa, after the battle of Alam Halfa (Aug 31 - Sep 5, 1942) it dissolved the Command of the II Group, but not the 3rd and 4th battery, which were redistributed in the tactical groups of the division. In the same period, it formed a seventh battery with materials recovered on the battlefield, non-existent from an organic point of view, but as efficient and fierce as the other six. The regiment's anti-tank pieces were scattered in the fire centers of the rifle companies, of which they ended up constituting the backbone. The paratrooper artillerymen, unlike the riflemen who had the 91 TS carbine, were individually equipped with the MAB 38 submachine gun and a Breda 30 machine gun for each piece team. In turn, the "Folgore" received groups and batteries from the "Pavia" and "Trieste" Division as reinforcements. Following the battle of El Alamein, the regiment dissolved in the African desert. It was December 8, 1942. For the countless acts of valor of its paratrooper artillerymen, the regiment's war flag was decorated with the Gold Medal for Military Valor, with the same motivation, a unique case in the Italian Army, as the 186th and 187th regiments of the "Folgore Division".

Post-war

In 1958 a battery of Artillery was established within the 1st Paratrooper Tactical Group, which was reorganized into a Group with two batteries in 1963. On December 16, 1966 the Paratrooper Artillery Group received custody of the War Flag of the 185th Regiment, decorated with the Gold Medal for Military Valor earned in North Africa, until then pinned on the War Flag of the Artillery Arm and kept by the Artillery School of Bracciano (RM).

In 1975, on October 1, it resumed the traditional numbering becoming the 185th Paratrooper Field Artillery Group "Viterbo" with three howitzer batteries and Command and Services Battery (BCS). In 1982 the 185th Paratrooper Field Artillery Group “VITERBO” participated in the first overseas mission of the Italian army in the post-war period in Lebanon with a training battery under the command of a Captain. In 1987 it expanded its tasks by adding an anti-aircraft defense battery (STINGER) to the organization.

On September 8, 1992 in Livorno, at the "Pisacane" Barracks, the historic headquarters of the unit, the 185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment "Folgore" was reconstituted. It included the Regiment Command, the Command and Services Battery "Leoni", the self-defense anti-aircraft Stinger battery "Scorpioni" and the 1st Group with three paratrooper howitzer/mortar batteries (1st "Draghi", 2nd "Aquile", 3rd "Diavoli") and the fire and technical support battery “Levrieri”. In 1993 it was decorated with the Silver Medal for Army Valor for its deployment in Somalia.

Dissolution

On August 31, 2000 the Regiment changed its tasks, the stinger battery “Scorpioni” and the fire and technical support battery “Levrieri” were dissolved, it decommissioned howitzers and mortars starting a specialization path from artillery to the fields of battlefield surveillance and target acquisition. The regiment therefore assumed the name of 185th Land Artillery Regiment (Paratrooper Target Acquisition) "Folgore": it adopted the motto (Videre nec videri) and emblem (bat with parachute and gladius) of the Paratrooper target acquirers of the Target Acquisition Battery of the dissolved 13th Target Acquisition Group "Aquileia" (13th GRACO) of the 3rd Missile Brigade "Aquileia". In 2004 the regiment changed again, giving rise to the 185th Paratrooper Reconnaissance Target Acquisition Regiment "Folgore".

The reconstitution in 2013

From 2000 to 2013, the Paratrooper Brigade Folgore lacked a specific artillery fire component. This gap was filled with the formation of the 185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment "Folgore", in Bracciano within the training regiment, the Artillery Command, two paratrooper mortar batteries, and the key elements of the Regiment Command which on June 21, 2013, in Cecina (LI) following an airdrop, took back the War Flag of the paratrooper artillerymen.

The day after the establishment, then sanctioned on July 1, 2013, the Regiment represented the Artillery at the National Gathering in Prato of former artillerymen and the following week faced the first shooting school.

It provided the core of the Multinational Battle Group West (MNBG-W) in Kosovo, as part of the operation “Joint Enterprise”.

Tasks and functions

Unit of “fire support” of the Brigade, it participates with its own components and operational assets in all home-land security operations and major international missions.

Organization

• Regiment Command
• 1st Group
  • 1st Heavy Mortar Battery
  • 2nd Heavy Mortar Battery
• Surveillance and Technical Support Battery
• Command and Logistic Support Battery

Honors to the War Flag

Gold Medal for Military Valor

Paratrooper Regiment of the glorious "Folgore" Division, together with the divisional quotas assigned to it, for three months, without rest, valiantly exerted itself in numerous offensive and defensive actions always thwarting the impetuous advance of the enemy enormously superior in number and means. In the epic battle of El Alamein, exhausted by the losses suffered, with all water, food, and ammunition supplies cut off, with the faith that only the most sublime love of Country can generate, it disdainfully rejected, to the cry of "Folgore", repeated invitations to surrender, thus demonstrating that the superiority of means could overwhelm the paratroopers of Italy, but never bend them. Through countless episodes of collective and individual heroism, it prolonged the resistance until the total exhaustion of every means of struggle, imposing itself on the respect and admiration of the enemy itself, thus writing one of the brightest pages for the Italian Army.

North Africa, July 22 - October 12, 1942; Battle of El Alamein, October 23 - November 6, 1942; Depression of El Kattara, November 4, 1942

Silver Medal for Army Valor

The 185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment Folgore, part of the Italian Forces in Somalia, participated in the relief operations for the Somali population, dedicating itself with total dedication and high professionalism in the dangerous mission and confirming, in numerous search and seizure operations for weapons and in operations against guerrillas and anti-banditry, the highest level of efficiency, great courage, and generosity of its personnel. Involved in numerous firefights, it always reacted effectively and determinedly, highlighting the military valor, operational capability, and strong motivation of its men. Despite the heavy losses suffered in combat, it continued to fulfill the assigned tasks without faltering, with the pride and determination to preserve in the attempt to restore security and humanitarian aid to the tormented Somali people and in the determination to honor the distant homeland.

Somalia, April 29, 1993 - September 7, 1993