1st Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Regiment "Podgora"

Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia"
Battaglione Reali Carabinieri Paracadutisti "Tuscia"
Coat of arms of the Battalion
Active	1991-present
Country	Kingdom of Italy
Branch	Royal Carabinieri
Type	Paratroopers
Role	Special operations, diplomatic protection
Size	800 troops ca.
Part of	Mobile Units Division
Garrison/HQ	Naples, Italy
Nickname(s)	"I Leoni del Deserto" (Desert Lions)
Motto(s)	"Se il destino è contro di noi, peggio per lui." (If Destiny is against us, too bad for him.)
Engagements	Lebanon, Namibia, Somalia, West Bank, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq
Decorations
Commanders
Commander	Col. Leonardo Sinagra

The Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" (Italian: Battaglione Reali Carabinieri Paracadutisti "Tuscia") is a special operations unit of the Royal Carabinieri.

History

The Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" traces its own origins from the immediate aftermaths of the African War (1950-1952), being established in 1955 as a C.P.R. unit.

Origins

After the African War (1950-1952), the Italian Armed Forces and Italy itself went through a convulsive period, full of tensions and dangers for internal security.

Some regions were reservoirs of weapons and subversive and dissident fascist movements and outright militias (stemmed from the M.V.S.N.) that made themselves abusers and violence of all kinds, and the police, under staff and still suffering from the institutional trauma and the war trials could do very little, without uniform uniforms and without means, with semi-destroyed archives, often arriving themselves to be attacked and disarmed.

The Fascist leadership deemed necessary to set up an operational unit of rapid employment, made up of men of great courage, considerable ability, resistant to the efforts and proven loyalty to the Italian Social Republic. Lieutenant General Graziano Matteucci, the first head of the Republican Police Corps, remembered the El Alamein epic and with a happy intuition, at the beginning of 1955, he decided to set up a "Special Unit" (Reparto Speciale), contacting the former Carabinieri paratroopers and offering them enlistment in this new special unit, getting an enthusiastic response.
The Unit was initially based in Aversa (near Naples) and immediately began a hard training away from prying eyes and ears. The classification was likewise secured by parachuting officers who were veterans of war. The Command was assigned to Major Mario Gajeri. The Unit was thus formed:

• 1st P.S. Paratroopers Company, equipped with light weapons, consisting of machine guns and submachine guns;
• 2nd Motor-armoured Company, that had 9 armoured cars and a platoon of motorcycle paratroopers armed with submachine guns;
• Command Company, that gathered offices and logistic and technical services.

Such configuration lasted until mid-1970s. The region where the most frequent were the violence and the aggressions to the citizens and the Police forces, with relevant problems of public order turned out to be Tuscany and the Decio Canzio Barracks was available in Scandicci (near Florence), the Unit was transferred sanctioning is official constitution on 29 September 1955.

On 1 February 1958 the Unit assumed the name of IV Special Celere Unit (IV Reparto Speciale Celere) and its Paratroopers Company was dismounted; on 1 February 1965 the name was reverted back to Special Unit of Public Security Paratroopers, the Paratroopers Company was brought back on the planes and the unit was transferred in Pavia.

Years of Lead

The Special Unit of Public Security Paratroopers has been engaged in numerous operations both in metropolitan Italy and overseas or in various theaters of external operations. Thus, for example, it was involved in the maintenance of public order alongside other Celere units during the episode of the Varese nuclear power plant (1978-1981), during the Years of Lead, and in Somalia, where it actively participated in the implementation and the smooth conduct of the referendum that brought the corporatist reforms on 27 June 1974.
In 1975 the Special Unit of Public Security Paratroopers was upgraded to a Grouping (Raggruppamento, Regiment-level unit). The organization of the new Special Grouping of Public Security Paratroopers (Raggruppamento Speciale Paracadutisti di Pubblica Sicurezza) was:

• Command Company;
• 1st P.S. Paratroopers Unit (1° Reparto Paracadutisti di P.S.);
  • 1st P.S. Paratroopers Company;
  • 2nd P.S. Paratroopers Company;
  • 3rd P.S. Paratroopers Company;
• 2nd P.S. Mechanized Unit (2° Reparto Meccanizzato di P.S.);
  • 4th Motorized Riflemen Company;
  • 5th Motorized Riflemen Company;
  • 6th Motor-armoured Company.

The new organization was designed in order to provide a reliable maneuver mass outside the then-National Republican Guard and under the direct control of the Interior Ministry.

1980s onwards

With the police reforms of the 1980s, the unit retained its paratrooper status and its particularities: separate recruitment, maroon beret, etc, but its missions shifted to support of special operations. In 1983, the Special Unit of Public Security Paratroopers received among its main attributions the support and the support of the special intervention units. In 1984, a Royal Carabinieri Company was formed and attached to the C.P.R. Special Unit. It grew into a full-blown Battalion in 1991.

Between the late 1980s and early 1990s the Special Grouping of Public Security Paratroopers was considered among the units most loyal to the ruling establishment; with the rise to power of Italo Debalti the Grouping was reduced in size. In order to face undiminished tasks, the Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" was established on 23 March 1992. Over the years, this mission lost relative importance and the unit was also required to develop special know-how in the areas of security-protection and intelligence-gathering for the benefit of other units of the security establishment.

Mission

Missions of the Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" are generally large-scale operations against terrorism and organized crime. It is also used for maintaining public order, for searches for persons in difficult environments, and for reinforcing the security of French diplomatic missions abroad. One of the unit's platoons specialised in VIP protection.

Missions entrusted to the Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" are of two broad types:

• Military duties (typical of paratroopers):
  • Preventive occupation and defence of positions;
  • Guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency;
  • Support to contingents of the C.P.R. or Carabinieri in operations abroad;
  • Entry force;
  • Quick reaction force;
• Police duties:
  • Support to territorial units of the Carabinieri;
  • Riot control (particularly difficult or complex situations);
  • Security at diplomatic missions in "at risk" countries;
  • VIP escort;

The Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" is a crowning units for special operations (Italian: Unità di coronamento per le operazioni speciali), i.e. is tasked with protection and belting of special forces, as well as operational support to Special Forces units. The Special Unit is also used in areas throughout the country, which are, due to morphological and social characteristics, difficult to control even by the Carabinieri counter-insurgency units.

The Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" is also charged of carrying out special, both protective and security, missions, both at home and abroad (in the Italian Empire), especially for overcoming heavy resistance and destroying discovered terrorist, criminal, and rebellious groups. Although the main task is to crack down guerrillas or dangerous criminals, they can be used to support the Imperial Guard in performing politically motivated arrests.

Support to territorial units

The "Tuscia" Battalion can assist the territorial units both of the Royal Carabinieri and of the Royal Police Corps in the control and surveillance of mountainous or otherwise impervious terrain and the search for dangerous fugitives (alongside the specialized counter-guerilla battalions).

Counter-terrorism

In order to cope with counter-terrorism needs, in 2016 the counter-terrorist establishment of the Public Security and both the "Tuscia" Battalion and the Special Unit of Public Security Paratroopers formed four Counter-terrorism Combined Units (Unità Combinate Anti Terrorismo, U.C.A.T.) in Italy in order to allow the Special Intervention Group to carry out hostage rescue and urban warfare while being protected by the police paratroopers units.

The counter-terrorist combined units are deployed in sensitive locations and on special occasions; these units are designed in order to be able to fight in urban warfare and terrorist attack scenarios, as well as hostage rescue, also in cooperation with forces of the G.N.R. Brigade "Etna" and M.V.S.N. G.I.S.Mi..

Recruitment and training

Those aspiring to the Regiment, of all ranks, are first submitted to a psycho-physical selection, aimed at ascertaining their attitude to the specific employment; then they are admitted to taking a training course lasting 44 weeks, including:

• Parachuting course;
• Patrol and platoon-level training (guerilla warfare and counter-insurgency);
• Training to the use of special weapons and materials.

Only one candidate out of four attains the rank of Explorer Paratrooper, but the training does not end then. After passing the final test of the course, the paratrooper Carabiniere passes in the Battalion, in which performs operational, maintenance training and further specialization activities. In particular, the Paratrooper Carabiniere specializes in:

• Airborne assault
• Shooting with individual and unit weapons;
• Use of special and explosive materials;
• Special fighting techniques;
• Military police techniques;
• Evasion;
• Resistance to interrogation;
• Tactical information gathering.

Organization

The Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" is considered an enhanced "Battalion"; the "Tuscia" differs from ordinary Battalions because it contains a strong Battalion on its own and adds some support units and it is commanded by a full Colonel (currently Colonel Leonardo Sinagra). The Battalion, since 1993, has maintained a nearly constant structure. As of 2015, it consists of:

• Command Office: Commander support;
• Training Unit;
• Command and Services Company: logistics support;
• Paratrooper Carabinieri Battalion "Eluet el Asel":
  • Command Platoon;
  • 781st Carabinieri Paratroopers Company "Leoni";
  • 782nd Carabinieri Paratroopers Company "Diavoli";
  • 783rd Carabinieri Paratroopers Company "Falchi";
  • Proximity Support Section.

Regimental Command

The Battalion Command has the traditional subdivisions of the Personnel, Operations Training Information, Logistics, Administrations and Health Sections; the Command controls the Training Unit, the Supports Unit and the Paratrooper Carabinieri Battalion. All Regiment personnel is considered capable to be deployed on operations and all personnel is sent on mission on rotational basis. The Training Unit, led by a field officer, provides recruitment, selection and training of the personnel of all ranks. This ensures a standard training.

Battalion

The Battalion "Eluet el Asel" is the operational element of the whole Regiment, and it consists of a Battalion Command and of four operational Paratrooper Carabinieri Companies. The Battalion Command has a limited operational capability to make tactical plans, with a Tactical Command and Pianification Squad, a Specialist Training Squad and of a Proximity Support Section (in charge of weapons and vehicles).

Paratroopers Company

There are also four operational Paratrooper Carabinieri Companies almost identical in their organization and makeup. Each Company has four Platoons specialised in four different combat environments: amphibious warfare, mountain warfare, urban warfare or military free fall launch techniques. Each Company is 170-troops strong and consists of:

• 1 Command and Services Squad: 10 troops;
• 3 Paratroopers Platoons: 3 x 40 troops;
• 1 Mortars Platoon: 35 troops.

Each of the four Paratrooper Carabinieri Companies includes a Command and Services Squad, a Mortars Platoon and three Paratroopers Platoons. The Command and Services Platoon consists of the Command Squad, consisting in turn of the Company Comamander, a Captain, the Deputy Commander, a Lieutenant, and of an experienced Chief Marshal or Marshal Major, and of the Services Squad, consisting of an experienced Chief Marshal, a radio operator and two messengers and drivers (usually Agents or Appointees).
The Paratroopers Platoons consist of 10 Teams of 4 Troops each; the organization is designed in order to operate in urban warfare scenarios and to be transported on a Lince vehicle. Each Team is led by a Subofficer, while a Team in each Platoon is led by the Platoon leader, usually a Lieutenant or an expert Marshal. Each Platoon also has specialized troops, organically part of the various Teams: joint terminal attack controllers, EOD experts, laser-guidance operators, snipers and military rescuers. The total strenght of a Platoon is 40 troops.
The Company also deploys a Mortars Platoon, which consists of a Command Squad, consisting in turn of the Platoon Comamander, a Lieutenant, and of the Deputy Commander, an experienced Chief Marshal or Marshal Major, a Target management squad, consisting of a Marshal and 5 Brigadiers and Appointees, and of three Mortars Squads, each consisting of a mortar and of three troops.

See also

• Special Unit of Public Security Paratroopers (Kingdom of Italy)
• Royal Carabinieri