Alpine Brigade Julia

Brigata Alpina "Julia"
Coat of Arms Julia Alpine Brigade
Active	October 15, 1949 – present Alpine Brigade Julia
Allegiance	Italian Army
Branch	Army
Type	Brigade
Role	Alpini
Part of	COMALP
Garrison/HQ	Udine
Colors	green
Engagements	Bosnia SFOR Kosovo KFOR Afghanistan ISAF
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier Paolo Domenico Serra

The Alpini Brigade Julia is a light Infantry brigade of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. Its core units are the Alpini, the mountain infantry corps of the Italian Army, that distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. The brigade’s name "Julia" alludes to the Julian Alps were the brigade is based. The Brigade carries on the name and traditions of the 3rd Alpine Division Julia.

The Brigade supplies the headquarters and most units to the Italian/Slovenian/Hungarian Battle Group. Component parts from the other two countries are the Slovenian 10th Motorized Battalion and the Hungarian 1st Light Infantry Battalion.

Constitution

The Julia was constituted on October 15, 1949 in the city of Udine. The brigade was the biggest in the Italian Army with around 10,000 men and was tasked to stop Warsaw Pact forces attacking through Austria over the Plöcken and Naßfeld passes, thus securing the Northern flank of the Italian V Army Corps, which formed the main line of defense against an enemy breakthrough into the Northern Italian plain. Initially the brigade was composed of the:

• 8th Alpini Regiment with
  • HQ & HQ Platoon
  • Feltre Alpini battalion
  • Tolmezzo Alpini battalion
  • Cividale Alpini battalion
  • L'Aquila Alpini battalion
  • 8th Mortar Company
• Belluno Mountain Artillery group
• Anti-tank Artillery group
• 108th Field Hospital
• 58th Kitchen Platoon

In the following years the brigade was augmented with further units:

• Signal Company (1950)
• 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment with Conegliano Mountain Artillery group and Light Air-defense group (February 1st, 1951)
• Engineer company (1951)
• 11th Frontier Defense Regiment (May 1954) (renamed 11th Alpini Position Regiment on January 1st, 1957 ) with the battalions
  • XII° (renamed Val Fella Alpini battalion on July 1st, 1963)
  • XIII° (created in 1959 and renamed Val Natisone Alpini battalion on July 1st, 1963)
  • XIV (dissolved in 1962)
  • XV° (renamed Val Tagliamento Alpini battalion on July 1st, 1963)
  • XVI° (dissolved in 1962)
• Julia Logistic Battalion (1955)
• Light Army Aviation Company (1956)
• Osoppo Mountain Artillery Group and Julia Logistic Support battalion (1961)

On October 26, 1962 with transfer of the Mondovì Alpini Battalion and Pinerolo Mountain Artillery group from the Alpine Brigade Taurinense the Julia reached its peak strength in men, units and equipment. For the next 30 years the Julia remained the largest brigade of the Italian Army. It was now composed of:

• 8th Alpini Regiment with
  • HQ & HQ Company
  • Gemona Alpini battalion
  • Tolmezzo Alpini battalion
  • Cividale Alpini battalion
  • L'Aquila Alpini battalion
  • Mondovì Alpini battalion (dissolved in 1975, name used to create the Alpini Training battalion Mondovì in Cuneo as part of the Taurinense Brigade)
  • 8th Mortar Company (dissolved on December 31st, 1964)
• 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment with
  • HQ & HQ group
  • Belluno Artillery group
  • Conegliano Artillery group
  • Udine Artillery group
  • Osoppo Artillery group
  • Pinerolo Artillery group
• 11th Alpini Position Regiment
  • Val Tagliamento Alpini battalion
  • Val Fella Alpini battalion
  • Val Natisone Alpini battalion
• Light Army Aviation battalion
• Alpini Parachutist platoon
• Logistic battalion

1975 Reorganization

In 1975 the regimental level was abolished by the Italian Army. The remaining units came under direct control of the Julia Brigade. Each Alpini battalion had 4 companies and an organic strength of around 1,000 men, with the exception of the Val Tagliamento Alpini Battalion, which was tasked to defend the border and the main passes. The Val Tagliamento fielded no less than 16 full strength companies for an organic strength of almost 2,500 men. The new composition was:

• Gemona Alpini battalion in Tarvisio
• Tolmezzo Alpini battalion in Paluzza
• Cividale Alpini battalion in Chiusaforte
• L'Aquila Alpini battalion (moved in 1975 from Tarvisio to L'Aquila in central Italy)
• Val Tagliamento Alpini battalion in Tolmezzo
• Vicenza Alpini Training battalion in Codroipo
• Belluno Mountain Artillery group (dissolved October 31st, 1989) in Pontebba
• Conegliano Mountain Artillery group in Udine
• Udine Artillery Group (renamed "Light Anti-aircraft Artillery Group Udine" on December 6th, 1991) in Tolmezzo
• Julia Logistic battalion in Udine
• Command and Signals battalion in Udine
• Anti-tank company in Cavazzo Carnico
• Engineer company in Gemona

1990s reorganization

On September 26, 1992 the battalion Val Tagliamento was dissolved. In August 1992 the battalions took the names of historical Alpini regiments to carry on the regimental traditions. Each regiment consisted of one of the brigades Alpini battalions and an additional support company. Furthermore the Anti-tank company was dissolved and the Command and Signals battalion was merged with the Engineer company into the newly formed Command and Tactical Support battalion. The new composition was:

• 8th Alpini Regiment Gemona battalion
• 9th Alpini Regiment L'Aquila battalion (ceded to the Alpine Brigade Taurinense in 1997)
• 14th Alpini Regiment Tolmezzo battalion (dissolved in 2005)
• 15th Alpini Regiment Cividale battalion (dissolved November 11th, 1995)
• 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment Conegliano Artillery group and Udine Light Anti-aircraft Artillery group (Udine dissolved November 11th, 1995)
• Vicenza Alpini Training Battalion (dissolved in 1996)
• Command and Tactical Support battalion
• Julia Logistics battalion (dissolved November January 29th, 2002)

With the suppression of the Alpine Brigade Cadore in 1997, the two remaining regiments of that brigade passed to the Julia Brigade:

• 7th Alpini Regiment Feltre battalion
• 16th Alpini Regiment Belluno battalion (ceded to Alpine Troops Command in 1998)

With the suppression of the Alpine Brigade Tridentina in 2002, the last remaining regiment of that brigade passed to the Julia Brigade on July 1, 2002:

• 5th Alpini Regiment Morbegno battalion

Furthermore the Julia received the 2° Engineer Regiment Iseo battalion from the Alpine Troops Command in 2002.

Today

The brigade is based in the eastern half of northern Italy. The headquarter is in the city of Udine. Today the brigade consists of the following units:

• Julia Combat Service Support battalion in Udine
• 5th Alpini Regiment Morbegno battalion in Sterzing
• 7th Alpini Regiment Feltre battalion in Belluno
• 8th Alpini Regiment Tolmezzo battalion in Cividale
• 3° Mountain Artillery Regiment Conegliano group in Tolmezzo
• 2° Engineer Regiment Iseo battalion in Trento

Equipment

The Alpini regiments are each equipped with 21 Bv 206S tracked all-terrain armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and 26 Puma 6x6 APCs. The artillery regiment fields 24 FH-70 towed howitzers.

See also

• 3 Alpine Division Julia

Source

Italian Army Homepage: Alpine Brigade Julia