Italian Army 1975 reform

With the 1975 reforms the Italian Army abolished the regimental level and replaced it with brigades made up of multiple arms (including for example armour, infantry, and artillery). During the reform the army disbanded 48 regimental commands and reduced its force by 87 battalions.<ref name="Rivista Militare 4/1976"></ref> A further ten regimental commands were used to raise ten new brigade commands. Ten training centers, which for traditional reasons had carried the names of regiments, were also disbanded. The reduction in units also allowed to mechanize most of the remaining units in Northern Italy and Italy's defense strategy changed from a hold-at-all-costs territorial defense to one of mobile warfare.
The reform was pushed through by General . Having become Chief of the General Staff of the Army on 1 February 1975, Cucino, concerned with the number of undermanned and underequipped units, ordered an immediate review of the army's structure. After two months Cucino and his staff presented a plan to restructure the entire army, and having secured an additional 1,100 billion Lire over 10 years to modernize the army's equipment, Cucino ordered the reform to begin with 1 September 1975. By 31 November 1975 the reform concluded and the army's organs, units, doctrine, training, and organization had been thoroughly and radically altered. After the reform operational units were at 93% readiness, with the Armored Division "Ariete" and the Anti-aircraft Artillery Command at 100% readiness.
Third Army.
As a founding member of NATO Italy was obliged to assign its military forces to NATO's integrated military command in case of war. While the Italian Air Force's operational units would have come under NATO's Fifth Allied Tactical Air Force (5 ATAF) in Vicenza, the Italian Army would have come under NATO's Allied Land Forces Southern Europe (LANDSOUTH) in Verona. However, as tensions between Italy and Yugoslavia over the Free Territory of Trieste were high after World War II and as Yugoslavia was not a Warsaw Pact member a conflict between the two countries would have likely not involved NATO. Therefore, on 1 May 1952 the Italian Army re-activated the Third Army in Padua to be able to act outside NATO's chain of command in case a war would break out between Italy and Yugoslavia. Third Army duplicated the functions of LANDSOUTH with a purely Italian staff. To not violate NATO's integrated military command Italy described Third Army in all official documents as "the command designated Third Army" ("il Comando Designato 3a Armata") and assigned no combat units to it during peacetime.
In case of war Third Army would have commanded the V Army Corps in Vittorio Veneto and the Carnia-Cadore Troops Command of the IV Alpine Army Corps. The latter command, based in San Daniele del Friuli, had been specifically created to be able to split the IV Alpine Army Corps' area of operation in case of war with Yugoslavia. Reinforcements for Third Army would have come from the III Army Corps in Milan and the VI Army Corps in Bologna.
With the easing of tensions between Italy and Yugoslavia, which culminated in the division of the Free Territory of Trieste with the Treaty of Osimo in 1975, the army disbanded Third Army, along with the VI Army Corps, on 1 April 1972. With the 1975 reform the last traces of Third Army's existence were eliminated: the Carnia-Cadore Troops Command was disbanded and the support units that had supported the Command Designated Third Army were reassigned or disbanded. Furthermore, the army significantly reduced its forces in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region along the Yugoslavian-Italian border: 17 regimental commands and 28 battalions were disbanded and a further six regimental commands were transformed into brigade commands. In total about a third of the pre-reform personnel were withdrawn from the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region as a goodwill gesture to Yugoslavia.
Personnel and training.
As part of the reform the military service length for the army was reduced from 15 to 12 months (Article 40, Law nr. 191, 31 May 1975). Subsequently, the army reduced its personnel strength from 285,000 to 240,000. At the same time the training of recruits was radically altered: until 1975 all recruits received their basic training at ten Recruits Training Centers ("Centro Addestramento Reclute" - CAR) and where assigned only afterwards to their units. With the reform all higher commands were assigned Recruits Training Battalions ("Battaglione Addestramento Reclute" - BAR), which trained the recruits assigned to the command's units.
Another part of the reform focused on the selection of the army's squad leaders. Until the reform squad leaders were chosen prior to their arrival at the army's Recruits Training Centers based on their army physical and their prior civilian education. Their actually ability to lead a squad was not taken into account and therefore General Cucino ended this practice. Forthwith the company commanders of the Recruits Training Battalions chose future squad leaders among their best recruits.
Naming conventions.
Numerals.
Until the 1975 reform the army alternated the numbering of its units between Roman numerals and Arabic numerals. With the reform the use of Roman numerals was discontinued. The table below gives an overview of the units of the army and the use of numerals before 1975:
Brigades.
With the reform the army raised ten new brigades and named them, depending on the division they were assigned to, by different conventions:
The tenth new brigade was the Motorized Brigade "Acqui", named after the World War II 33rd Infantry Division "Acqui".
Battalions and groups.
In 1975 newly independent battalions and groups were given a name, battle flag, and coat of arms. These names, flags, and coats of arms are still in use today. The naming convention introduced in 1975 is as follows:
Infantry.
Each speciality of the infantry developed its own naming convention.
The three Granatieri (Grenadier) battalions were named for two battles, where the Granatieri had withstood overwhelming enemy numbers, and for the oldest regiment of their line:
Line infantry regiments already carried names before the reform and mostly retained them. The newly independent line infantry battalions, which changed their names, did so because:
All newly independent infantry battalions, with the exception of six, were named for battles where the antecedent regiment had distinguished itself. The six battalions were renamed, in one case for the patron saint of the city where the unit was based (1st Motorized Infantry Battalion "San Giusto"), in one case for a quarter of the city, which was the unit's former title (33rd Infantry Fortification Battalion "Ardenza"), in one case for a historic event that had occurred in the area of the regiment's former title (74th Infantry Fortification Battalion "Pontida"). In the remaining three cases for the historic name of the region surrounding the unit's base from where it drew its recruits: 45th Infantry (Training) Battalion "Arborea", 47th Infantry (Training) Battalion "Salento", 91st Infantry (Training) Battalion "Lucania".
Bersaglieri regiments and battalions had not carried names before the reform and the newly independent battalions were named, with two exceptions, for battles. The 1st Bersaglieri Battalion was named for the founder of the Bersaglieri corps General Alessandro Ferrero La Marmora, while the 11th Battalion, which had received the war flag of the 182nd Regiment "Garibaldi", was named for the island of Caprera, where Giuseppe Garibaldi had spent the last years of his life.
Alpini battalions and the associated mountain artillery groups had been recruited in the Alpine valleys of Northern Italy and were named since 1887 for the location of their main depot. With the 1975 reform Alpini battalions and mountain artillery groups became independent under their historic names.
Armor battalions were named for officers, soldiers and partisans, who were posthumously awarded Italy's highest military honor the Gold Medal of Military Valour for heroism during World War II. Similarly the two mechanized Carabinieri battalions were named for Carabinieri officers, who were posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour. I.e. 13th Tank Battalion "M.O. Pascucci".
Paracadutisti (Paratroopers) battalions were named for World War II battles: Second Battle of El Alamein, Air Assault of Poggio Rusco, and one battalion was named for the location of the first Italian military parachute school Tarquinia. The Paratroopers Assault Battalion was named for the World War I conquest of the summit of Col Moschin by its predecessor regiment.
The infantry's youngest speciality the Lagunari fielded two battalions after the reform:
Cavalry.
During the reform two cavalry squadron groups were reactivated and both, as all already active squadron groups, retained their traditional names. Two squadron groups retained their names based on former Kingdom of Sardinia possession in France: "Nizza Cavalleria" named for the County of Nice and "Savoia Cavalleria" named for the Duchy of Savoy. One squadrons group retained its name based on the Second Italian War of Independence Battle of Montebello, one squadrons group retained its title as the guides ("Guide") of the army, while the remainder of the squadron groups retained their names, which were derived from Italian regions (i.e. "Piemonte Cavalleria") or cities (i.e. "Lancieri di Novara").
Artillery.
The artillery remained divided into the following specialities:
Most artillery units retained the names of the former regiments, whose war flags they were given. The units, which changed their names, did so because:
Unlike the other service arms of the army the artillery did not follow a unified naming convention. Which led to units being named for battles (3rd "Pastrengo", 13th "Magliana", 184th "Filottrano"), rivers (1st "Adige", 10th "Avisio"), mountains (i.e. 4th "Bondone"), landscapes (i.e. 14th "Murge", 47th "Gargano"), cities (i.e. 33rd "Terni", 132nd "Rovereto"), bridges (19th "Rialto"), and World War II divisions (120th "Po"). However light anti-aircraft reserve groups were named systematically for birds of prey.
Engineers.
Engineer battalions were named for a lake if they supported a corps or named for a river if they supported a division or brigade: i.e. the 5th Pioneers Battalion "Bolsena" supported the 5th Army Corps, while the 104th Pioneers Battalion "Torre" supported the Mechanized Division "Mantova". In the case of the 184th Pioneers Battalion "Santerno" the name was chosen to also commemorate the CLXXXIV Engineer Battalion's role in crossing the river Santerno during the allied 1945 Spring offensive.
Signals.
Signal battalions were named for mountain passes, with the exception of the two Southernmost units, which were named for volcanoes. I.e. named for passes: 4th Signal Battalion "Gardena", 33rd Electronic Warfare Battalion "Falzarego"; named for volcanoes: 45th Signal Battalion "Vulture" and 46th Signal Battalion "Mongibello".
Army aviation.
Army aviation units were new creations and named for celestial objects:
If a squadrons group was part of a regiment the second digit of its number corresponded to the number of the regiment. I.e. the 44th Squadrons Group was a reconnaissance helicopter unit assigned to the 4th Army Aviation Regiment "Altair".
Transport and materiel.
Transport groups were named for Roman roads near their bases: i.e. 10th Inter-forces Maneuver Transport Group "Salaria" and the 11th Maneuver Transport Group "Flaminia", both based in Rome, were named for Roman roads starting in Rome.
Logistic battalions were named for the division or brigade they were assigned to. In 1986 logistic units supporting the army corps were given the names of landscapes in the corps' area of operations (i.e. "Carnia", "Carso", "Dolomiti").
History.
This naming convention is still in force and newly created units' names adhere to it. I.e:
War flags and coat of arms.
For the first time the Italian Army allowed units below the regimental level to carry a war flag ("bandiera di guerra"). With the presidential decrees n. 846 of 12 November 1976 and n. 173 of 14 March 1977 the newly raised units were officially assigned their names and either assigned an existing war flag or granted a newly created one:
In total 92 stored and 80 newly created war flags were given to the units raised during the reform. With the war flags these units also acquired the right to display a coat of arms. This required the army's heraldry office to design 80 new coat of arms and update the other 92, many of which had not been modified since the time of fascism and furthermore did not take the unit's World War II service into account. Therefore, the army's heraldry office created or updated the coat of arms for all existing units of the army. See Heraldry of the Italian Army for further details.
Equipment.
The reduction of forces allowed the army to retire old equipment and invest in new gear. The first priority was to improve the anti-tank capabilities of infantry units by speeding up the introduction of the BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missiles and ordering another 10,000 missiles, bringing the total number of launchers and missiles in service by 1978 to 432 launchers and more than 15,000 missiles. While the army had already bought 200 Leopard 1A2 main battle tanks and 69 Bergepanzer 2 armored recovery vehicles from Germany in 1971 and 1972 to equip the Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli", in 1974 the army ordered an additional 400 license-built Leopard 1A2 and 67 Bergepanzer 2 from OTO-Melara to replace M47 Patton tanks and M74 armored recovery vehicles in units stationed in Northern Italy. In total the army reduced the number of M47 tanks in service by about 900. Unhappy with the protection level of the standard M113 armored personnel carrier the army ordered the same year 600 VCC-1 "Camillino" with improved armor and a M2 Browning machine gun for its armored and mechanized brigades. As the amphibious LVT-4 of the Lagunari Regiment were obsolete the army ordered 17 LVTP-7 as replacement (15x LVTP-7, 1x LVTP-7C command post, 1x LVTP-7R recovery vehicle). For the artillery 164 FH70 towed howitzers were ordered, while the last M7 Priest, M55 and M14/61 howitzers were retired. In total the army reduced the number of howitzers in service by about 450. The artillery's MGR-1 Honest John surface-to-surface missiles were replaced with MGM-52 Lance missiles, while its MQM-57 "Falconer" drones were replaced by Canadair CL-89B "Midge" drones. The Army's Light Aviation had received its first CH-47C Chinook transport helicopter in February 1973; by 1975 the first operational unit could be formed and all 24 Chinook were in service by October 1977. In the same year the first of 80 SM.1019A artillery observation and liaison plane entered service and began to replace the L-18C Super Cub and L-21B Super Cub planes, which were finally taken out of service in 1979 and 1980 respectively. In 1976 the army acquired five A109 Hirundo helicopters: three in VIP transport configuration and two equipped with a telescopic sight unit and BGM-71 TOW anti-tank guided missiles to aid in the development of an indigenous attack helicopter.
Army General Staff.
Anti-aircraft Artillery Command.
In peacetime the Anti-aircraft Artillery Command was under administrative control of the Artillery Inspectorate in Rome, in wartime it would have come under operational control of NATO's Allied Land Forces Southern Europe Command in Verona.
Sources.
"L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000", a 6-tome book published by the Ufficio Storico (History Office) of the Italian army's General Staff is the main source for this article. The book contains the official history of every Italian army unit that was granted a war flag. The other main sources of this article are the presidential decrees from 12 November 1976, n. 846 and 14 March 1977, n. 173, with which the President of the Italian Republic awarded the units created in the 1975 reform their war flags and names. The third main source is the "Circolare SME n. 350/151 del 4.8.1975" with which the Army General Staff informed all units of the changes affecting them during the reform.