History of the Folgore

The history of Italian military parachuting, indeed, worldwide, began twenty years before the establishment of the first large airborne unit.

Lieutenant Alessandro Tandura, a daring member of the 10th Arditi Regiment (now the 9th Assault Regiment Col Moschin), on the night between August 8 and 9, 1918, with an English Cathrop parachute (usually used by pilots of malfunctioning aircraft), would jump into the Vittorio Veneto area from a Savoia-Pomilio SP.4 aircraft of the Special Aviation Group I, piloted by Major William George Barker, Canadian, and Captain and Member of Parliament William Wedgwood Benn, British (both pilots of the Royal Air Force). A true intelligence action: a raid behind the lines to observe (actually in Italian territories occupied by the Austro-Hungarians) the enemy and report to the Italian Military Command the deployment of men and equipment.

Tandura perhaps does not know it, but he is in history: HE IS THE FIRST PARACHUTIST IN THE WORLD IN A WAR ACTION IN HISTORY. A few days later, the second jump was also performed by Lieutenant Pier Arrigo Barnaba, also from the Arditi. Both came from the Alpini, for which they retained the characteristic green insignia, the so-called "Green Flames".

The Libyan Air Infantry

Precursors of the national paratrooper units were the “Libyan Air Infantry”, envisioned with farsighted determination by Italo Balbo, General Governor of Libya. Overcoming all kinds of difficulties, Balbo managed to establish on March 22, 1938 a parachuting school at the Castel Benito Airport near Tripoli.

The idea was to create a battalion of Libyan “Air Infantry” framed by Italian national officers and non-commissioned officers, entrusting the command to one of the most valiant and experienced colonial officers, Lieutenant Colonel Gold Medal for Military Valor Goffredo Tonini.

They were working on virgin ground, constantly having to invent, the training was very difficult, and moreover, the innate distrust of the colored troops towards the airplane was not an obstacle that could be easily overcome.

Lieutenant pilot Prospero Freri went to Libya and began training the officers who were to become instructors of the natives in the use of the “Salvator” D/37 parachute, which he invented. Everything was done quickly, and the Ascari, once familiar with the planes and jumps, became excellent athletes.

Unfortunately, the first tests were carried out with rather unsuitable S/81 aircraft. There were 15 deaths and 72 injuries.

The Royal Air Force Paratrooper School in Tarquinia

With directive no. 12 of September 28, 1939, the Royal Military Parachuting School was established within the Royal Air Force at the “Amerigo Sostegni” airport in Tarquinia (VT), effective from October 15, 1939, with the task of training future paratroopers of the Italian Armed Forces on national soil, leveraging the experiences gained at the Libyan paratrooper training camp created at Castel Benito (LIBYA) in 1938. Within a few months, the increasingly intense activities within the Royal Parachuting School led to the creation of an instructor corps consisting of about fifty officers and non-commissioned officers.

On May 23, 1940, the first battalion of national paratroopers was established in Barce under the command of Major Arturo Calascibetta. The “Libyan” and “national” paratrooper battalions, combined with other units, formed the “Tonini mobile group” with the task of slowing down the initial advances of the British troops.

This time, however, more care was taken with the more technical aspects. The SM/75 aircraft, suitably modified, were employed, while the “Salvator” D/37 parachute was replaced by the I/40, which had a larger canopy and thus allowed for a slightly slower descent speed. Training was proceeding when the Second World War broke out.

The first units to be established in Tarquinia (July 1940) were the I and II Paratrooper Battalions and the III Carabinieri Paratrooper Battalion (later renamed II, III, and I respectively). In the spring of 1941, the IV Paratrooper Battalion was added, which, along with the II and III battalions and the 1st Anti-Tank Gun Company, formed the 1st Paratrooper Regiment.

During 1941, the 2nd Regiment (V, VI, and VII Battalions, 2nd Gun Company) and the 3rd Regiment (IX, X, and XI Battalions, 3rd Gun Company) were also formed. The VIII Battalion was instead retrained at the Engineer Demolition School. The regimental gun companies were then used as the basis for the formation of the I, II, and III Paratrooper Artillery Groups, later grouped into the Paratrooper Artillery Regiment.

From these elements, on September 1, 1941, the 1st Paratrooper Division was formed under the command of Brigadier General Francesco Sapienza and then, from March 1, 1942, by Brigadier General Enrico Frattini, an engineering officer, who had already been attached to the head of the SMRE General of the Army Mario Roatta.

The man from Tarquinia was Colonel Pilot Paratrooper Giuseppe Baudoin de Gillette, who became somewhat the spiritual father of all Italian paratroopers.

In Tarquinia, which over the years would become the symbol of the Italian Paratroopers, young men from every branch of the Armed Forces flocked, allowing for a very rigorous selection: 60% of the volunteers were rejected, but those who remained were truly first-rate young men. The difficulties, as usual, were enormous; in Tarquinia, there was only an airfield, some barracks, and nothing else.

However, Baudoin had a skilled group of instructors around him. Barracks and giant tents sprang up as if by magic, while a metal training tower over 50 meters high disappeared from the Parade Ground of Villa Glori in Rome and was quietly reassembled in the Tarquinia field.

The first units of Italian Paratroopers, except for the two battalions formed in Libya, were thus formed at the Tarquinia School. Within this school, in 1940, numerous volunteers from every type of Weapon, Corps, and Specialty of the Royal Army gave life to the II Battalion (commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Benzi). At the beginning of 1941, the III Battalion (Major Pignatelli di Cerchiara) was established, followed shortly after by the IV Battalion (Major Bechi Luserna).

In the same month, as the long and bloody Greek campaign was coming to an end, the paratroopers were called to conquer the island of Cephalonia. The II Battalion was tasked with the operation, transferring two of its companies to Lecce, under the command of Major Zanninovich. On April 30, some SM-82s took off from the Galatina airport: the drop took place in the Argostoli plain, and the action succeeded without a single shot being fired. The local garrison, composed of several hundred Greek gendarmes, was disarmed, and the next day, paratrooper detachments requisitioned some fishing boats and landed on the islands of Zakynthos and Ithaca, preventing them from falling under German control.

On May 5, the men of the II Battalion were withdrawn and replaced. The first wartime drop for our paratroopers had ended in complete success. Meanwhile, training and the formation of new battalions continued, always identified by progressive numbering; between the summer of 1941 and the spring of 1942, seven were formed, including one of demolition-paratroopers, while on August 10, 1941, an artillery group was formed: now the times seemed ripe to form a Great Unit.

This was officially constituted on September 1, 1941, bringing together the 1st and 2nd Paratrooper Regiments (V, VI, and VII btg.), the VIII Demolition-Paratrooper Battalion, and the artillery group for the paratrooper division, which in January 1942 was expanded to a regiment with two groups.

Obviously, not all units were immediately available and operational, but they became so as the training phases progressed.

In the following March, a 3rd Paratrooper Regiment (IX-X and XI btg.) was added, while by June, the artillery regiment received a third group. The Paratrooper Division, thus constituted, differed from other units of this level in being organically lighter, equipped with reduced services, and not burdened by heavy logistical structures. Even the artillery regiment was equipped only with 47/32 pieces, intended for anti-tank tasks (and even these with very specific limits) but unsuitable for providing normal fire support. Few mortars and accompanying weapons, with the only advantage being that individual armament included the Beretta submachine gun.

On the other hand, such armament was well configured within the scope of the type of action that the unit was institutionally called to perform: the airdrop with a surprise action on a target and the subsequent establishment of a bridgehead to be defended for a limited time, until being relieved by conventional forces.

Beautiful theories, those exposed, which were denied to the future “Folgore” by war events. The Paratrooper Division, this was the official name of the new Great Unit, was placed under the command of General Francesco Sapienza, almost immediately replaced by General Enrico Frattini. The initial training was carried out until May 1942 in Tuscany and Lazio, then there was the transfer to Apulia between Ceglie Messapica, Ostuni, and Villa Castelli, where it underwent rigorous training in view of the planned invasion of Malta (Operation C3).

The excessive confidence placed in Rommel's successes and the fall of Tobruk favored operations towards Egypt, and therefore the fundamental action on Malta, for which the paratroopers had worked so hard, was abandoned, thus denying the Division the right to be employed in its entirety in a war drop.

The excitement, when in July 1942 its deployment in North Africa was decided, was short-lived, as the paratroopers soon realized that they would hardly be used in airdrops, but since the drop equipment was maintained, there remained some faint hope.

The 185th Paratrooper Division "Folgore"

In July 1942 the division was instead transferred to North Africa under the cover name of 185th "Africa Hunters" Division, so as not to reveal to the enemy the real affiliation to the paratrooper troops, under the command of General Enrico Frattini. Simultaneously, the battalions increased from two to three per Regiment, regiments that also changed names: before the departure of the three infantry Regiments, only the 186th and 187th departed, while the 185th regiment remained in Italy to form the nucleus of the 184th Paratrooper Division "Nembo". The Artillery Regiment assumed the number 185th.

Simultaneously, the Division also underwent an organic reorganization, becoming, on July 28, 185th Paratrooper Division and assuming the name “Folgore”, derived from the Latin motto “Ex Alto Fulgor” coined for its 1st regiment and chosen by then Major Alberto Bechi Luserna on the unintentional suggestion of Don Augusto Moglioni, who in one of his letters concluded by signing with this salutation formula.

The reorganization also involved its regiments, which assumed the new numbering of 185th, 186th, and 187th, while the artillery regiment and the quotas of specialties were always distinguished by the number 185.
The novelties were not yet over, as, having decided to form a new Paratrooper Division, the 185th regiment was retained in Italy, as the constitutive nucleus of the new unit, framing the III battalion and transferring the other two (IV and V) to the 187th regiment.

From this moment, therefore, the “Folgore” assumed the binary structure and began its transfer to North Africa in dribs and drabs, partly by air from the airfields of Lecce, partly after a long and tortuous journey through the Balkans, from Athens, always by air.

The first unit to arrive on African soil was the IV/187th of Lieutenant Colonel Bechi Luserna who arrived in Fuka on July 18, immediately followed by the other divisional units. Concentrated at El Daba, the paratroopers, for secrecy reasons, had to give up wearing the brevet and anything else that could reveal their specialization. It was a great sacrifice, exacerbated by the fact that the Division, for the same reasons, had to adopt the name “Africa Hunters”, and the peremptory order came to hand over all the drop material, which had to be sent back to Derna for storage: the last hope of being able to carry out a war drop thus fell.

The “Folgore” is then sent to fight the trench war in the hell of El Qattara at El Alamein where it emerges undefeated but decimated and is dissolved, as a division, at the end of 1942.

From the school of Tarquinia, which in January '43 was transferred to Viterbo, came the paratroopers of the “Folgore” and “Nembo” Divisions, those of the Carabinieri battalion, the San Marco battalion, the Navy, the X Arditi, and battalions 1st and ADRA (Arditi Distruttori Regia Aereonautica).

The “Nembo” Division, having overcome the crisis following the armistice, on September 8, 1943, was a protagonist of the Liberation war.

The 285th Paratrooper Battalion "Folgore"

With some survivors and replacements in Libya, the CLXXXV Paratrooper Battalion "Folgore" was formed, commanded by Captain Lombardini, structured into five companies and framed within the 66th Infantry Regiment of the "Trieste" Division of the XX Army Corps, taking part in the Tunisian campaign.

The 285th was deployed at Buerat to defend the Via Balbia and after further retreats, the battalion received orders on January 22, 1943, to position itself south of the Castelbenito airport. It held out together with a German paratrooper battalion to allow the Italian and German divisions to retreat along the coast. The next day, January 23, the evacuation of the capital Tripoli was ordered, and they were to join the new units arriving in North Africa for the ultimate defense in Tunisia.

It engaged in a series of fierce battles at Medenine, Gabès on the Akarit, and in defense of the Mareth line in Tunisia between April 6 and 7, 1943, and on this occasion too, it gave an excellent performance, culminating in the epic battle of Takrouna on April 20, 1943, where the cry "FOLGORE!!!" echoed once again.

After days of intense fighting against an entire New Zealand brigade (about 4,000 men against 180), it almost completely sacrificed itself rather than abandon its positions. To the approximately 50 survivors, the British would once again grant the honor of arms as had already happened at El Alamein. 

This would be the last battle of the HEROIC ITALIAN PARATROOPERS IN AFRICA.

The Rebirth

The reconstruction of the Paratrooper Specialty in the post-war period was slow and fraught with numerous difficulties.
The clauses of the Peace Treaty were drastically limiting regarding the Italian Armed Forces and did not take into account the fact that the latter, from October 1943 to April 1945, had operated alongside the Allies.
Among the other imposed restrictions was the prohibition to establish and train paratrooper units, precisely in light of the importance that the emerging specialty had demonstrated during the world conflict.

In 1946, a Military Parachuting Experience Center was established in Rome thanks to Captain Leonida Turrini, along with other officers and non-commissioned instructors who were already part of the "Nembo" regiment, who were able to proceed with training using old launch materials and SM-82 aircraft that had escaped demolition, thanks to their transfer to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, under whose insignia they flew. Thus, it was possible to resume launch training cycles for former military personnel and also for a certain number of civilians.

In January 1947, they were gathered at the Military Parachuting Center (C.M.P.) in Rome, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Giuseppe Izzo.
The following year, thanks to the establishment of an experimental unit at the company level, which also included conscript personnel, the Center left its Roman headquarters to move on March 13 to Viterbo, where during the war period there had already been a military paratrooper school, alongside the one in Tarquinia in 1942.

Meanwhile, as the international situation changed and the period of the "Cold War" between Western powers and Soviet bloc countries began, the heavy restrictions imposed by the Peace Treaty were eased, while Italy's entry into NATO marked their definitive end.
The Center's activities could then continue without interruption: the paratrooper companies became two and in 1952 they gave birth to the paratrooper battalion, the first unit of such a level to be established in the post-war period.
Subsequently, a paratrooper carabinieri unit, a saboteur unit, and five alpine paratrooper platoons destined for as many Brigades were established. At the same time, the launch material was improved with the adoption of the C.M.P. 53 parachute (which finally included the auxiliary parachute) and the subsequent C.M.P. 55 (equipped with one-shot), while in the airfield the old SM-82s were replaced by the more modern Fairchild C-119G FLYING BOXCAR (or "flying wagons" in the common Italian term) provided by the United States under the MDAP (Mutual Defence Assistance Program). The C.M.P. 55 would be the last parachute of completely Italian design and construction.

Starting from 1957, the conscription contingent destined to receive the parachutist license was expanded, and at the same time, the operational battalion was enlarged in terms of personnel, transforming into the 1st Parachute Tactical Group under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Adolfo Giunta. Following this enhancement, the decision was made to leave the old headquarters in Viterbo and transfer all units belonging to the airborne troops to the new headquarters in Pisa and Livorno.

In Pisa, the Military Parachuting Center was transferred under the command of Colonel Carlo Mautino, the Carabinieri and Saboteur units, the Recruit Training unit, the Studies and Experiences Office, and the air supply company, while in Livorno, the 1st Parachute Tactical Group and the forming 1st Parachute Artillery Battery were based. At the same time, all personnel of these units were granted authorization to wear, instead of the previously used “khaki” beret, the “gray-green” one (formerly of the Nembo) as a symbolic recognition of the Specialty that was preparing for new important developments.

The Parachute Brigade

On January 1, 1963, following a further expansion of the units, the Parachute Brigade was officially activated, by decision of its then Chief of Staff, General Giuseppe Aloia. The first commander of the reconstituted Parachute Brigade, which was placed under the command of the Army General Staff, was General Aldo Magri.

On January 1, 1963, therefore, the Parachute Brigade was established in Pisa with the following structure:

• Command
• Parachute Carabinieri Company (later became a battalion)
• Parachute Saboteur Battalion
• 1st Parachute Regiment (with two battalions)
• Parachute Field Artillery Group
• Helicopter Section (established only in 1966)
• Parachute Training Center (CEPAR)
  • Command and Command Company
  • Recruit Training Battalion
  • Services Office
  • Air Supply Company

In the same year, 1963, it was incorporated into the VI Army Corps of Bologna, which included the Friuli and Trieste infantry brigades.

The following year (1964), the Brigade Command moved to Livorno, joining all other operational units, while in Pisa, the CEPAR changed its name to Military Parachuting School (SMIPAR). In the following years, the “Folgore” found itself at the forefront, both in cases of civil emergencies, such as floods (1966) and earthquakes, and in those occasions where the use of force was inevitable.

The Folgore Parachute Brigade

Finally, on June 10, 1967, the Parachute Brigade was authorized to bear the glorious name of “Folgore”, while a few days later, its personnel were assigned the maroon beret, following a tradition common to almost all countries in the world, which wants elite troops to be equipped with berets of immediately identifiable colors.

The international political scenario, with the world divided into two parts, the United States on one side, the Soviet Union on the other, placed Italy in a position of vital importance from a strategic military point of view: training activities continued intensely, bringing the Brigade's Parachutists to the highest international levels, thanks also to numerous exercises, often within the NATO framework, which formalized their preparation. The Folgore is NATO's first spearhead to confront in case of a war scenario.

In parallel, the modernization of the equipment and materials in use continued, particularly the aerial ones, with the progressive replacement of the old C-119s by the more modern and capable C-130 HERCULES and the Italian-designed G-222s, as well as the adoption of various types of helicopters.

However, 1971 was marred by a great tragedy: at dawn on November 9, a C-130K of the Royal Air Force, redeployed along with other aircraft of the same type in Pisa for a series of exercises, sank after takeoff in the area of the Meloria shoals with 46 paratroopers of the Brigade on board, departing for an airdrop in Sardinia. During the difficult recovery operations, Sgt. Maj. Giannino Caria of the saboteur battalion also lost his life, posthumously awarded the Gold Medal for Civil Valor and after whom the flagship of the Brigade's small fleet of boats is named today.

The restructuring of the Italian Army, which took place in 1975, aimed to prioritize the qualitative component over the quantitative one, profoundly affecting the structure of the Brigade, with the dissolution of the 1st regiment, the assignment of a name to individual battalions or groups, and the establishment of new support units. According to this restructuring, the 2nd and 5th parachute battalions were named Tarquinia and El Alamein, the carabinieri battalion was named Tuscania, the saboteur battalion became the 9th Col Moschin, and the artillery group was renamed the 185th Viterbo, while the aviation unit became the 26th A.L.E. Giove squadron group.

In October 1976, the war flags were presented to the Brigade's battalions:

• To the 2nd Battalion, the flag formerly of the 187th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the "Folgore" Division
• To the 5th Battalion, the flag formerly of the 186th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the "Folgore" Division
• To the 9th Battalion, the flag formerly of the 10th Arditi Regiment

A logistics battalion and the reconnaissance, anti-tank, and pioneer engineering companies were also established, all identified by the name "Folgore." Simultaneously, the recruit battalion of the Pisa Military Parachuting School was numbered 3rd and named Poggio Rusco.

Subsequent organic reorganizations within the Brigade led to the dissolution of the reconnaissance and anti-tank companies, whose personnel, with an evolutionary logic aimed at making the base units increasingly efficient and autonomous, were distributed within the 2nd and 5th battalions. Finally, logistical needs, necessary to reduce the number of units at the Livorno headquarters, led to the relocation of the 5th battalion and the pioneer engineering company, now sapper engineers, to the new locations of Siena and Lucca, respectively.

In 1982, it was employed for the first time, almost completely (all units), in the very delicate Italcon mission in Lebanon, one of the first international peace missions. It would again provide a tactical group in 1991 as part of the humanitarian relief mission "ITALPAR Airone", later renamed "ITALFOR Airone," in Iraqi Kurdistan.

In the year 1992, the 183rd btg. Nembo was established in the city of Pistoia, thus rationalizing the territorial settlement of the Brigade. The following year, the 183rd Battalion became the 183rd Regiment consisting of the Riflemen Battalion and the CCS Company. And so on for all the others, the 2nd, based at the Vannucci barracks in Livorno, became the 187th Parachute Regiment Folgore, and the 5th Battalion the 186th Parachute Regiment Folgore.

The Battalions remained, integrated into the Regiments, so that each Regiment was composed of a Battalion consisting of four rifle companies and a heavy mortar company, and an external command and services company that reported directly to the Regiment Command.

The 185th Parachute Artillery Regiment was also established, based in Livorno at the Pisacane barracks.

The Regiment had a structure similar to the 183, 186, 187 Regiments, but the operational Companies were called "batteries" and were framed in a Battalion. In the following years, the Battalions underwent some changes at the level of Rifle Companies (from four to three), but the structure remained fundamentally intact.

From July 1992, the brigade provided personnel for the Operation Vespri Siciliani for territorial control and the defense of sensitive objectives. From December 1992, it was deployed in Somalia until September 1993, in the ITALFOR Ibis mission, as part of the Restore Hope operation where it was a protagonist, on July 2, 1993, of the first Italian military conflict since the post-war period.

In 1997, the absurd affair of the Somalia-gate, an investigation artfully mounted by the weekly Panorama to discredit the Folgore, was later dismissed for total lack of evidence (it was discovered that a soldier had invented stories for Panorama for personal economic gain).

In the same year, the brigade came under the command of the Projection Forces Command, established that year as part of the measures related to the implementation of the New Defense Model. In 1998, the 3rd Parachute Battalion Poggio Rusco, which had not assumed the regimental structure, was dissolved, and the following year the Military Parachuting School became the Parachuting Training Center.

In the following years, there were significant changes within the Brigade:

• In 1995 the 9th Battalion Col Moschin was renamed the 9th Regiment.
• In 1999 the SMiPar, Military Parachuting School based in Pisa, became CeAPar (Parachuting Training Center).
• In the same year, the Carabinieri left the Army to form their own Armed Force, and consequently, the Tuscania Carabinieri Paratroopers Regiment left the Folgore.
• In 2001 the 8th Paratrooper Engineers Regiment was reconstituted in Legnago (Verona), replacing the Lucca Paratrooper Engineers Battalion.
• In 2001 an anti-tank company was added to the 183rd, 186th, and 187th Battalions.
• In the same years, the 185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment became the 185th R.A.O., Reconnaissance and Target Acquisition Unit, merging into the special operations forces pool.
• In 2004 the brigade came under the command of COMFOTER.

However, in 1997, speculations from a well-known political faction almost led to the permanent disappearance of the Amaranto Berets, as the Folgore Brigade was genuinely at risk of dissolution. The “Somalgate” was artfully constructed by the weekly “panorama”, and in April 2001, the Italian Justice's verdict: the photos published in the magazine had been manipulated, essentially photomontages. And the accusatory stories of the pseudo-Italian paratroopers were inflated tales by fame-seeking mythomaniacs, likely funded by “someone” who never appreciated the Paratroopers Brigade.

But the Folgore “held its ground,” closed in on itself like Great Families do, resisted as is its Style, and awaited the moment of great redemption.

In Afghanistan from April to October 2009, the Folgore deployed the Command and Task Forces of the Regional Command West and the Italian contingent in Kabul. During the mission, the paratroopers were engaged in operations against Taliban guerrillas, becoming involved in several firefights and IED attacks buried in the ground or car bombs.

The Folgore paratroopers were the first Italians to be videotaped in combat in Afghanistan (October 6, 2009), thanks to journalist Rai Nico Piro.
The video of the battle of Parmakan was republished by various news sites, newspapers, and relaunched by the ANSA and APCOM news agencies.

In the years following the ISAF operation, the Brigade underwent a significant reorganization.

In 2013, as part of the subsequent reorganization, the Brigade transitioned to the direct command of COMFOTER and saw its composition change once again. The 3rd Savoia Cavalry Regiment, the 6th Folgore Logistics Regiment, and the newly reconstituted 185th Paratrooper Artillery Regiment joined the large unit.

Meanwhile, the 9th Assault Paratrooper Regiment Col Moschin and the 185th Paratrooper Reconnaissance and Target Acquisition Regiment Folgore left the Folgore, becoming part of the Army Special Forces Command in 2014, under the direct command of the Deputy Chief of Staff.

From September 2016, the Brigade left the Land Operational Forces Command and came under the command of the Northern Operational Forces Command.

The Folgore remains today a highly trained Large Unit with unique means and equipment in the entire sphere of the armed force, and its paratroopers at the top of the armed force and beyond.

The heavy legacy with the glorious past and the high operational expertise of the Brigade represent the strength of all today's and tomorrow's Paratroopers for the defense of the Nation.