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Alpine Brigade "Julia"

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This article is about the currently active Italian Army Alpine Brigade "Julia". For the World War II Royal Italian Army division, see 3rd Alpine Division "Julia".
Alpine Brigade "Julia"
Brigata Alpina "Julia"
Coat of Arms of the Alpine Brigade "Julia"
Active15 October 1949 – present
Alpine Brigade "Julia"
CountryItaly
BranchItalian Army
RoleAlpini
SizeBrigade
Part ofAlpine Troops Command
Garrison/HQUdine
Colorsgreen
EngagementsBosnia SFOR
Kosovo KFOR
Afghanistan ISAF

The Alpine Brigade "Julia" is a light infantry brigade of the Italian Army, specializing in mountain warfare. Its core units are Alpini, an infantry corps of the Italian Army, that distinguished itself during World War I and World War II. The brigade carries on the name and traditions of the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia". The division's and brigade's name allude to the Julian Alps in the Friuli region where the division's regiments recruited their troops, and where after World War II the brigade was based. Accordingly, the brigade's coat of arms is modeled after the Friuli region's coat of arms.

The brigade supplies the headquarters and most units to the former Multinational Land Force, also known as the Italian-Hungarian-Slovenian Battlegroup. Component parts from the other two countries were the Slovenian 10th Motorized Battalion and the Hungarian 1st Light Infantry Battalion.

History

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Constitution

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The Julia was constituted on 15 October 1949 in the city of Cividale del Friuli. During the Cold War the brigade was the Italian Army's biggest brigade with around 10,000 men and was tasked to defend the Plöcken and Naßfeld passes with Austria in case Warsaw Pact forces would attack through neutral Austria. The brigade covered the left flank of the Italian 5th Army Corps, which was based along the Italian-Yugoslavian border and tasked to prevent an enemy breakthrough into the Northern Italian plain. Initially the brigade was composed as follows:[1]

In the following years the brigade was augmented with further units:[1]

  • Headquarters Platoon (1950)
  • Signal Company "Julia", in Udine (1 June 1950)
  • 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment, in Udine (1 February 1951) with:
  • Engineer Company "Julia" (1 April 1951)
  • Mountain Artillery Group "Gemona", in Tai di Cadore (1 April 1951, renamed "Udine" 1 January 1957)
  • Alpini Paratroopers Platoon, in Udine (1953)
  • 11th Frontier Defense Regiment, in Tolmezzo (raised 1 September 1952, joined the brigade in May 1954; renamed 11th Alpini Fortification Regiment on 1 January 1957) with the battalions:
    • XII° Battalion (renamed Alpini Battalion "Val Fella" on 1 July 1963)
    • XIII° Battalion (created in 1959 and renamed Alpini Battalion "Val Natisone" on 1 July 1963)
    • XIV Battalion (disbanded in 1962)
    • XV° Battalion (renamed Alpini Battalion "Val Tagliamento" on 1 July 1963)
    • XVI° Battalion (disbanded in 1962)
  • Services Grouping "Julia" (1955)
  • Light Aircraft Section "Julia" (raised in 1956 as part of the 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment, transferred to the brigade in 1958)
  • Mountain Artillery Group "Osoppo", in Pontebba (15 October 1961)

On 26 October 1962 the Alpini Battalion "Mondovì" of the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense" moved to Paluzza in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region to augment the Julia, followed by the Taurinense's Mountain Artillery Group "Pinerolo" on 1 December 1963, which moved to Tolmezzo. With this the Julia reached its peak strength in men, units and equipment. For the next 30 years the Julia remained the biggest brigade of the Italian Army. At the start of 1964 the brigade was composed as follows:

The Alpini Paratroopers Platoon merged with the paratrooper platoons of the other four alpine brigades on 1 April 1964 to form the Alpini Paratroopers Company in Bolzano under direct command of the 4th Army Corps.

1975 Reorganization

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"Julia" locations in 1989

With 1975 Italian Army reform the regimental level was abolished and battalions came under direct command of multi-arms brigades. At the same time the army reduced and realigned its forces and therefore the Julia saw major changes to its composition: the 8th Alpini Regiment, 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment, and 11th Alpini Fortification Grouping were disbanded. The Alpini Battalion "Cividale" moved to Tarvisio, while the Alpini Battalion "Tolmezzo" and Alpini Battalion "Gemona" were disbanded with their names transferred to the Alpini Battalion "Mondovì" respectively Alpini Battalion "L'Aquila". The name "Mondovì" was transferred to the Alpini Battalion "Orobica" of the 2nd Alpini Regiment of the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense", while the name "L'Aquila" was transferred to the Alpini (Recruits Training) Battalion "Julia", which became an active unit. As new training unit the Alpini (Recruits Training) Battalion "Vicenza" was raised in Tolmezzo, which moved subsequently to Codroipo. The Alpini Battalion "Val Tagliamento" moved to Tolmezzo and received the 269th Company and five reserve companies from the disbanded Alpini Battalion "Val Fella". The Mountain Artillery Group "Belluno" was disbanded and its name transferred to the Mountain Artillery Group "Osoppo", while the Mountain Artillery Group "Pinerolo" was disbanded and its name transferred to the Mountain Artillery Group "Susa" of the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense". The Mountain Artillery Group "Conegliano" moved to Udine, while the brigade headquarters and the signal company were merged to form the Command and Signal Unit "Julia", and the Services Grouping "Julia" was reorganized as a logistic battalion. An anti-tank company was raised, while the Light Aviation Unit "Julia" was disbanded.

After the reform the brigade's four Alpini battalions had an authorized strength of 950 men, with the exception of the "Val Tagliamento" battalion, which was tasked to man fortifications in the upper Canal valley. The "Val Tagliamento" 16 Alpini companies for an organic strength of almost 2,500 men. The brigade's three artillery groups had an authorized strength of 610 men and fielded 18 M56 105mm pack howitzers each. The new composition was:

Strategic planning

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After the 1975 reform the 4th Alpine Army Corps was responsible to defend the Italian border along the main chain of the alps from the Swiss-Austrian-Italian border tripoint in the west to the Italian-Yugoslavian border in the east. In case of war with Yugoslavia the 4th Alpine Army Corps would remain static in its position guarding the left flank of the 5th Army Corps, which would meet the enemy forces in the plains of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The only brigade which would have seen combat in such a case would have been the Julia.

In case of a war with the Warsaw Pact the 4th Alpine Army Corps had two war planes: one in the case the Soviet Southern Group of Forces and Hungarian Army would march through Yugoslavia and the other in case the Warsaw Pact would violate the Austrian neutrality and march through Austria. In case the enemy forces would come through Yugoslavia, the Julia would cover the mountainous left flank of the 5th Army Corps, which with its four armoured and five mechanized brigades would try to wear down the enemy before it could break out into the North Italian Padan plain. The other alpine brigades would remain static.

In the more likely case the Soviet and Hungarian divisions would invade Austria and march through Southern Styria and through the Drava valley in Carinthia the alpine brigades would have been the first front line units of the Italian Army. The Cadore would have defended the Piave valley, the Tridentina the Puster valley, while the Orobica had a special mission and the Taurinense would remain in reserve. In this scenario the Julia was expected to be the first Italian unit to encounter Warsaw Pact forces and to take the brunt of the enemy strength as the brigade was based in the middle of the assumed line of advance of enemy forces. Marching through the Austrian Drava valley Eastern forces were expected to turn left at Villach and try to cross the Alps through the Canal valley, which was garrisoned by the Julia's Gemona battalion at the border in Tarvisio and the Cividale battalion further down the valley in Chiusaforte, with the Gemona battalion being supported by the Belluno artillery group in Pontebba and the Cividale battalion supported by the Conegliano artillery group in Udine. The Gemona was to block the Canal Valley right at the border, while the Cividale was tasked to defend the Naßfeld Pass on the Gemona's left flank. Further West the Tolmezzo battalion was stationed in Paluzza and tasked with defending the Plöcken Pass, as a breakthrough there would have allowed enemy forces to march through the But valley into the rear of the other Julia units. The Tolmezzo battalion was to be supported by the Udine artillery group.

Additionally the Val Tagliamento battalion, the biggest battalion of the Italian Army, based in Tolmezzo near the Southern end of the Canal Valley fielded 16 companies and had an organic strength of over 2,500 men, which were tasked to man the Alpine Wall fortifications in the aforementioned valleys. As a Warsaw Pact attack through the Canal valley was considered to be the most likely scenario the Julia was by far the strongest brigade of the Italian Army with more than 10,000 men.

In case the Julia would have failed to hold the Canal valley the 3rd Missile Brigade "Aquileia" with its MGM-52 Lance surface-to-surface missiles and M115 203 mm towed howitzers would have turned the Canal valley into a nuclear wasteland. This mission was taken over in 1985 by the 27th Self-propelled Heavy Artillery Group "Marche", which fielded M110 203 mm self-propelled howitzers and had its W33 nuclear shells stored at the "San Bernardo" ammunition depot in Reana del Rojale. The Marche fielded two firing batteries with 4 artillery systems per battery and had 140 nuclear artillery shells to fulfil its task. In the late 1980s the W33 nuclear artillery shells were replaced with fewer but more powerful W79 nuclear artillery shells.

1990s reorganization

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7th Alpini Regiment during the Falzarego 2011 exercise
8th Alpini Regiment mortar team

On 26 September 1992 the Val Tagliamento battalion was disbanded. 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 brigade's Alpini battalions and an additional support company. Furthermore, the Anti-tank Company was disbanded and the Command and Signal Unit was merged with the Engineer Company into the Command and Tactical Supports Unit. The new composition was:

With the suppression of the Alpine Brigade "Cadore" on 10 January 1997, the two remaining regiments of that brigade passed to the Julia:

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

Furthermore, in 2002 the Julia received the 2nd Alpine Engineer Regiment Sapper Battalion "Iseo" in Trento from the Alpine Troops Command.

Organization

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Julia units in 2022
3rd Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain) at the Hohenfels Training Area

The brigade is based in the eastern half of northern Italy and part of the Alpine Troops Command. The headquarter is in the city of Udine. In 2013 the brigade received the reconnaissance Regiment "Piemonte Cavalleria" (2nd) from the Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli". As of 4 October 2022 the brigade is organized as follows:

Equipment

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The Alpini regiments are equipped with Bv 206S tracked all-terrain carriers and Lince light multirole vehicles. The maneuver support companies of the Alpini regiments are equipped with 120 mm mortars and Spike anti-tank guided missile systems. The cavalry regiment is equipped with Centauro tank destroyers and VTLM Lince vehicles. The brigade's artillery regiment fields 18x FH-70 towed howitzers and an unknown number of M56 105 mm pack howitzers in the direct fire role.[3]

Gorget patches

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Main article: Italian Army gorget patches

The personnel of the brigade's units wears the following gorget patches:[4]

Band

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The military band of the Julia Brigade was formed on 1 October 1967 during the procession of the change of the Brigade Commander. It made its debut in Venzone at the "Feruglio" barracks. The nucleus of the band are musicians coming from the Alpine Regiments, all of which have experience in civilian city bands. It currently has 42 musicians, located in Udine. The repertoire consists of pieces by Gioacchino Rossini, Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Verdi, Glenn Miller, and George Gershwin. Its primary activity consists of participation in ceremonial ceremonies and events, concerts in various cities of Italy and abroad, and in the numerous international military tattoos/festivals.[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Brigata alpina "Julia" – La Storia". Italian Army. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  2. ^ F. dell'Uomo, R. Puletti (1998). L'Esercito Italiano verso il 2000 – Vol. Primo – Tomo II. Rome: SME – Ufficio Storico. p. 387.
  3. ^ "Obice da 155/39 FH-70". Esercito Italiano. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Brigata Alpina "Julia"". Italian Army. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ "La Fanfara - Esercito Italiano".

Sources

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