9th Paratroopers Assault Regiment "Col Moschin"
The 9th Paratroopers Assault Regiment "Col Moschin" () is an active Special Forces unit of the Italian Army based in Livorno in Tuscany. The regiment is part of the Italian Army's infantry arm's Paracadutisti speciality and assigned to the Army Special Forces Command for training, preparation, doctrinal and procedural development, and the materiel acquisition. Operationally the regiment falls under the Italian Armed Forces' Joint Special Forces Operations Command. The regiment is the only military unit, which has participated in all out-of-area missions of the Italian Army since World War II. History World War I During the later half of World War I the Royal Italian Army began to form Arditi units modeled after the Imperial German Stormtroopers. Armed with daggers and hand grenades the Arditi were used to clear the Austro-Hungarian trenches. From summer 1917 the army began to form assault units, which consisted of approximately 700 Arditi, for each of its army corps. In May 1918 the regimental depot of the 45th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Reggio") in Sassari formed the IX Assault Unit (), which was assigned to the IX Army Corps. On 15 June 1918 the Austro-Hungarian Army went on the offensive and began the Second Battle of