Royal Carabinieri

Royal Carabinieri Corps
Arma dei Carabinieri Reali
Coat of arms of the Royal Carabinieri
Active	13 July 1814 - 8 May 1948 29 July 1981 - Present
Country	Kingdom of Italy
Type	Gendarmerie
Role	Permanent service of public security
Size	120,000
Part of	Ministry of Defence Ministry of Interior
Garrison/HQ	Rome, Italy
Nickname(s)	L'Arma Benemerita L'Arma La Benemerita
Patron	Virgo Fidelis
Motto(s)	Nei Secoli Fedele (Faithful throughout the centuries)
Commanders
Commandant-General	Benito Frusan
Insignia
Symbol

The Royal Carabinieri (formally "Arma dei Carabinieri Reali", "Royal Carabinieri Corps", CC.RR.) is the national gendarmerie branch of the public security services, the others being the Royal Police Corps and the Coast Guard. After decades of merging with the Police, Carabinieri were re-established in 1981 in a major overhaul of police services; differently from the past, all police services share the same awards and traditions. In particular, the Carabinieri have the main task of providing the bulk of personnel assigned to rural police duties.
The Carabinieri are also involved in international police missions as stand-alone gendarmerie force; when deployed abroad in conjunction with the M.V.S.N., the Carabinieri, as part of the police forces, maintain the leadership. The Carabinieri, with military status and in wartime part of the Armed Forces of the State, are articulated in three main branches: the Territorial Forces deployed in Provinces, the Specialized Units that are the CC-part for the Specialities of the P.S. Administration, and the Mobile Forces.
Alongside the Mobile Forces, the Corps has a territorial structure: it is stationed in every province, with its own officers, and placed under Quaestors, under the the overall command of the Chief of Police in Rome. The 110 Provincial Groups (Gruppi Provinciali), each commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel or, for important commands, by a Colonel, are organized in 21 Legions (Legioni), led by Brigadier Generals, which in turn are framed within 5 Inter-regional Commands, led by Major Generals; below the Provincial Command there are several Territorial Commands (Comandi Territoriali), in turn divided into Lieutenancies (Tenenze) and Stations (Stazioni). Each Provincial Group reports, for both preventive and repressive military police duties, to the relevant Army District Command, although it is not part of the Army. Despite its military legal status, the Carabinieri can be more accurately described as a paramilitary rather than a strategic force, neither geared nor equipped at large towards the fighting or winning of wars, but to its duties of protection of public security and where needs be, execution of armed services. However, some units do have military capabilities.

History

The Carabinieri is the result of two main events: the end of the Royal Carabinieri in 1948 and the main security reform occurred in 1981. Between 1948 and 1981, the Republican Police Corps was the only stately security force in Italy and for 33 years it had provided all the operational personnel to the whole Public Security complex.

End of the Royal Carabinieri

Form its beginning, the newly-reorganized Republican Police Corps was chosen as favourite organization related to the Public Security, in the eyes of some P.N.F. leaders even surpassing the civilian Directorate-General. Between late days of October 1946 and the foundation of the National Republican Guard (occurred on October 28th, 1948), the Carabinieri underwent a series of major changes and reforms, in order to make them suitable for the planned merger with the most elite M.V.S.N. units. On November, 4th 1946, Carabinieri were separated from the new National Republican Army, and they were established as the Arm of the Republican Carabinieri (Arma dei Carabinieri Repubblicani), maintaining their widespread territorial structure. Major debates were held about the Carabinieri's ultimate destiny. Some Party and military leaders supported the general merger of all police and security apparatus in one Gendarmerie force; many others, however, supported the decision to split political and ordinary responsibilities.
In January 30rd, 1947 Mussolini appointed retired Field Army General Rodolfo Graziani as first Commandant General of the Republican Carabinieri; on March 4th, 1947 the new Regulation was enacted, as well as the new Republican oath of allegiance, and by the end of April the uniform changed, adopting the blackshirt. In the fall of 1947 began a significant personnel migration towards the Army.
The territorial structure was maintained, although a bit reduced: some city commands were transferred to the Republican Police Corps, while the rural stations were still kept open. On March, 23rd 1948, during a speech before a Carabinieri-M.V.S.N. joint exercise, Benito Mussolini told about the establishment of a new force, capable to keep traditions and to be a truly Fascist Republican apparatus. By May, 8th 1948, the transfer of the Carabinieri territorial structure and personnel to the Public Security apparatus was completed: officers could choose between the re-enlistment in the Army with the rank held, the enrolment as Public Security civilian officials, the direct transfer to the Republican Police Corps (within the increased operational needs) or the permanence within the National Republican Guard. A significant, but minor part (12%) chose to retire, while the bulk of officers (73%) chose to remain in service within the Armed Forces (especially the Republican Police Corps and the Army, but also in the Navy and in the Air Force; only a relatively minor part (15%) remained in the National Republican Guard.
However, Carabinieri were not officially disbanded; they were reduced to a cadre organization, with few C.P.R. officers designed to be the nucleus of a reformed organization. The on-paper survival of the Carabinieri was achieved thanks to an intense lobbying activity and to the presence of doubts and differing view within the ruling group of the new Republic about the future security challenges.

C.P.R. as Carabinieri's heir

The characterization of the C.P.R. as the Carabinieri legitimate heir dates back to mid 1970s, when the Italian political elite began to deteriorate, and some policy-makers sought to strengthen both the morale and the legitimation of the police. On February 28th, 1978 then-Minister of National Defence Giovanni Spadolini and then-Minister of Interior, Francesco Cossiga, made a joint speech, where the Carabinieri's War Flag was declared the national insignia of the Republican Police Corps. The following day all awards and decorations awarded to the Arm of Carabinieri as a whole (Decorazioni alla Bandiera) were officially transferred to the Corps. Together Carabinieri's awards, the C.P.R. inherited also their ethics and traditions, as well as the dual budgetary links with the Interior Ministry (for police operations) and with the National Defence Ministry (equipment, personnel, barracks and facilities).

1981 security reform onwards

Carabinieri and Coast Guard as separate corps were re-established in 1981 in a major overhaul of police services; differently from the past, all police services share the same awards and traditions, and in turn share most of them with the other Armed Forces. In 1981 the whole security apparatus was reorganized; the re-establishment of the Carabinieri (from the small group formally tasked to give birth again to the Arma) greatly affected the Republican Police Corps, which was deprived of all its rural stations and bodies, including the former State forestry Corps and of a relevant chunk of its mobile and special forces. The C.P.R. however managed to mantain the overall unity and superiority over all the military forces tasked with police duties; the Royal Guard of Finance, while an autonomous corps, also remained within the scope of the urban police.

Mission

The Royal Carabinieri contribute to the defence of the Nation, to the protection of the Fascist institutions and to the protection of the Nation. In a situation of danger of transnational war, the availability of an instrument such as the Carabinieri, based on a broad territorial deployment, which combines a great intelligence capacity with a powerful projection of force, and with extensive historical experience in the combat of the terrorism and other serious forms of crime, gives a strategic advantage to the country that owns it. This is combined with the specialised urban surveillance capacity of the C.P.R. in order to obtain a secure environment.
All serious threats (terrorism, organized crime, illegal immigration) have a clear transnational dimension. On the other hand, many of the external conflicts that take place in the Italian environment have a direct impact on internal security: refugee flows among which criminal groups are also camouflaged, drug trafficking to finance the contenders, market growth black arms, among many others. This convergence of external and internal threats brings about the end of the pure division between the traditional missions of the security forces and the armed forces.
Thus, the security forces make a significant contribution to crisis management and peacekeeping operations, between the imperial confines and in other areas. Along with this external projection of the security forces, the armed forces have to assume a collaboration in traditional internal security missions, such as the fight against terrorism, drug trafficking or illegal immigration.
The Royal Carabinieri are an essential part of the response to all these challenges to Italian security, but it has no exclusive response for any of them. The versatility and flexibility of the Royal Carabinieri, which allows them to act in both military and police missions, both integrated into military and purely civil organizations, both in intelligence and in combating terrorism, make it not only a privileged instrument for Deal with emerging threats that arise in the strategic arena, but as a cornerstone on which to build cooperation between armed forces and security forces.

Military duties

The Royal Carabinieri contribute to the defence of the national territory and participate in military operations abroad. They also participate in operations for the enforcement, maintenance and restoration of the Roman peace, in order, in particular, to achieve security conditions in the areas of intervention. The Royal Carabinieri also contribute to the reconstitution and restoration of the operations of foreign police forces in the mission areas of the Armed Forces.
The Royal Carabinieri carry out military police and information gathering duties. The territorial network of the Royal Carabinieri gathers information also for military security purposes. The Royal Carabinieri perform, in the absence of the Musketeers of the Duce, the service entrusted to them.
While in principle all Royal Carabinieri have military police and national defence duties, in the Carabinieri there are special units intended primarily for carrying out the tasks of national defence and military police units, with functions of security police and military judicial police.
The Royal Carabinieri also contribute to the implementation of the mobilization predispositions of the Armed Forces on the basis of the directives of the Chief of Defence General Staff.

Internal security duties

The Royal Carabinieri perform judicial police and public security functions. The Royal Carabinieri watch over the maintenance of public order, public security, the security of citizens and the protection of property; they take care of the observance of the general and special laws and regulations of the State, of the provinces and municipalities, as well as of the ordinances of the public authorities; they provide assistance in the case of public and private accidents. An active vigilance, not interrupted, and the repressive action constitute the essence of their mission. Therefore, even when they are not expressly in charge of service, they must intervene if they are infringing the law, or their work is requested by public officials, or even by private individuals, for the disengagement of the duties established for them.
The Royal Carabinieri provide the security services of the diplomatic and consular representations, as well as the offices of the military attachés abroad.

Auxiliary duties

The Royal Carabinieri primarily ensure the continuity of the service in the areas affected by public disasters. They also contribute to providing relief to people affected by disasters.
The military garrison commander may, consistent with the available force and the needs of the service, contact the Royal Carabinieri for an escort service of honor and, in the case of reviews and parades, for the service order and the maintenance of order. Carabinieri may be employed as line troops, only in exceptionally serious cases, when, for the maintenance of public security, all the military forces of the garrison are made available to the military authority.

Dependencies

The Royal Carabinieri have an independent position within the Ministry of National Defence, with the rank of Armed Force and it is a military force in permanent service of public security.
The Royal Carabinieri depends, through the Commandant General, on the Chief of General Staff of the Defence. For what concerns the tasks of protection of public security in the civilian field, they depend on the Minister of the Interior for employment, through the Chief of Police and the General-Inspector of the Militarized Police Corps. For what concerns the tasks of protection of public security in the Italian Empire, the Royal Carabinieri depend on the Ministry of Imperial Affairs. For technical-administrative aspects, the Royal Carabinieri depend on the Ministry of National Defence, and on the Ministry of the Interior for the use of financial resources aimed at strengthening the police. For all other tasks, such as national defence, military police and other duties not specifically entrusted to other Ministries, the Royal Carabinieri depend on the Ministry of National Defence.
The Carabinieri units set up within other ministries, organs or other national authorities for the performance of specific tasks are functionally dependent on the latter ones' chiefs. Units and the offices of the Arma established within joint bodies, or within individual Armed Forces, depend, through their own Commanders, respectively on the Chief of General Staff of the Defence and on the relevant Chief of Staff of Armed Force.
In times of war and during states of emergency, the law establishes the exclusive dependence of the Royal Carabinieri on the Ministry of National Defence. In this case there is no room for possible interference in the fulfillment of the military missions entrusted to the Royal Carabinieri. Command relations as well as transfers of authority would be governed by the regulations in force in the Armed Forces.

Organisation

The Royal Carabinieri are headed by the General Command, consisting of the Commandant-General of Carabinieri, the Deputy Commandant-General and the Chief of Staff, all located in Rome. The Chief of Staff directs, coordinates and supervises all activities of the force.
The Carabinieri are organised on a territorial basis for law-enforcement missions. The territorial organization represents the core of the institution; it contains 85 percent of the force and is organized hierarchically in five inter-regional, 19 regional and 110 provincial commands. Outside the territorial organization, there are the Military Police Command, the Mobile Units Division, which in turn controls the 1st Carabinieri Mobile Brigade, the Forestry Units Division, the Inspectorate Units Division and the Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale (framed within the Central Operational Section).

General Command

Coat of arms of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri

The General Command of the Royal Carabinieri is the Carabinieri department that deals with directing, coordinating and controlling all the activities of the corps, with particular attention to the operational activities carried out by the departments and those of analysis of criminal phenomena. It also maintains relations with the central organs of the public administration, for all that does not concern the military tasks.

Commandant-General

The Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri is an officer of the Royal Carabinieri who, at the time of his appointment, holds the rank of General of the Army Corps. He is appointed by decree of the Duce, on the proposal of the Minister of National Defence, after hearing the Chief of General Staff of Defence, on which he depends.
Within the Royal Carabinieri, the Commandant-General is hierarchically superior to all the General Officers and, in case of absence, impediment or vacation of the office, is replaced by the Deputy Commandant-General.
The Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri commands and is responsible for the Royal Carabinieri, is responsible for organizing and preparing the Royal Carabinieri and proposes to the Chief of the General Defence Staff the program relating to the Royal Carabinieri for the purpose of general interforce planning. The Commandant-General is a member of the National Committee of Public Order and Security and of the General Council for the Fight against Organized Crime.

Powers in the operational, training and logistics fields

The Commandant-General is the central security body of the Royal Carabinieri and, based on the directives of the Chief of General Staff of Defence, identifies the departments and personnel to be used for the performance of military police tasks and participation in national defence and ensures availability, formulates proposals for operational planning. determines the implementation modalities of the mobilization and the entity of the relative stocks and defines the training activity and exercises the functions of operative command for the operations and the exercises of the Carabinieri, is responsible for organizing and preparing unit and departments for the accomplishment of military and police tasks.
The Commandant-General determines the ordering, the territorial circumscriptions, the organisms and the operating modalities of the commands, departments, units, institutes and various bodies, determines the establishment or the suppression of fixed places or temporary stations, training of personnel, approves the publications of the Carabinieri.
The Commandant-General also determines the policies of employment of technical material, on the basis of the directives of the Chief of General Staff of Defence.

Powers in recruitment, status, progress and employment fields

The Commandant-General proposes to the Chief of General Staff of Defence the destinations of the Generals of Army Corps and, for the needs in the Defence field, the officers to be used for international use, in joint tasks and in other departments. Similarly, the Commandant-General proposes to the General-Inspector of the Militarized Police Corps the destinations of the Generals of Army Corps and, for the needs in the law enforcement field, the officers to be used for international use, in joint tasks and in other departments.
The Commandant-General determines the destinations of the dependent officers, subject to the permission of the Minister of the Interior for those transferred to or from the territorial organization (devoted to police tasks) and the joint police bodies, giving prior notice to the Chief of General Staff of Defence for the divisional and brigade general officers. In this regard, if the Commandant-General or the Chief of General Defence Staff requests and the Interior Minister (and, by delegation, the Chief of Police) accepts, Carabinieri (and other Police Military Forces) units and personnel normally assigned to police duties may be transferred to military duties.
The Commandant-General chairs the Superior Commission for the Advancement of the officers of the Royal Carabinieri, is vice-president of the Supreme Commission for the Advancement (if it deals with officers of the Royal Carabinieri), he indicates to the Chief of Defence General Staff the general officers to propose to the Minister of National Defence as members of the progress commissions. The Commandant-General chairs the commission for the expression of the opinion on the granting of the rewards to the value and merit of the carabinieri. The Commandant-General can directly order the formal investigation against the employees and designates the members of the disciplinary board for the personnel against whom he has ordered the formal investigation.

Powers in the financial and administrative field

The Commandant-General performs the functions of chief programmer, of general director, titular of administrative responsibility and of territorial military commander on the whole national territory.

Deputy Commandant-General

The Deputy Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri exercises the vicarious functions in case of absence or impediment of the General Commander and assists him in carrying out the functions and tasks delegated, carries out inspections to the high commands of the Arma (by delegation of the Commandant-General) and presides over the ordinary commission of progress of the officers of the Carabinieri.
The Deputy Commandant-General is an Army Corps General in effective permanent service and is appointed by decree of the Duce, upon proposal of the Minister of National Defence, after hearing the Chief of General Staff of the Defence. The Deputy Commandant-General remains in office for a maximum duration of two years, unless in the meantime he must not cease from the actual permanent service due to age limits or to another cause provided for by law, and is hierarchically superior to the other general officers of the Royal Carabinieri.

Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri

The Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri is a Divisional General tasked of being the chief consultant and collaborator of the Commandant-General, on which he directly depends. He receives from the Commandant-General the directives for the activity to be carried out and directs the activities of the General Staff and defines, where necessary, the additional elements to translate the decisions of the General Commander into orders and plans.
As Chief of Staff, he represents the Commandant General and issues orders in his name, when authorized, and has some departments and units under his direct dependencies: Health and Administration Directorates, the Secretariat, the Autonomous Unit of the General Command and the Head of the Spiritual Assistance Service (military chaplains).

Administration Directorate

The Administration Department is employed by the Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri Corps and has national territorial jurisdiction for all bodies and entities dependent on the same General Command.

Deputy Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri

The Deputy Chief of Staff assists the Chief of Staff in the performance of his duties and replaces him in case of temporary absence, impediment or vacancy of the office, provides for the delegated determination of spending commitments, directs the provision of expenditure items to of the Heads of the Department, presides and coordinates the activity of the working and study groups for the study of problems of primary interest to the Carabinieri. The Deputy Chief of Staff directly manages the National Recruitment Centre.

Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri

The Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri (Stato Maggiore del Comando Generale dei Reali Carabinieri) ist the executive organ tasked to apply general orders of the Commandant-General and general directives of other bodies. It is led by the Chief of Staff of the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri and includes six Units:

• I Unit - Forces organization: competent in matters of organization, training, personnel management, as well as disciplinary and assistance;
• II Unit - Forces deployment: responsible for all operational activities;
• III Unit - Telematics: deals with IT, telecommunications, special armament and equipment issues;
• IV Unit - Logistical support of the forces: responsible for all support activities (procurement, supplies, repairs, maintenance and recovery);
• V Unit - External Relations and Propaganda;
• VI Unit - Planning, programming, budget and control: responsible for coordination of administrative and financial activities.

I Unit - Forces organization

The I Unit - Forces organization (I Reparto - Organizzazione delle Forze) deals with organization, training, personnel management, as well as with social assistance and disciplinary matters. The I Unit is subdivided into six Offices:

• Organization Office;
• Officers Office;
• Marshals Office;
• Troops Office;
• Training and Regulations Office;
• Personnel Assistance and Welfare Office.

II Unit - Forces deployment

The II Unit - Forces deployment (II Reparto - Impiego delle Forze) is the main operational body at the central level. The II Unit is subdivided into five Offices:

• Operations Office (Ufficio Operazioni);
• Organized Crime Office (Ufficio Criminalità Organizzata);
• Plans and Military Police Office (Ufficio Piani e Polizia Militare);
• Gendarmerie cooperation Office (also responible for the Royal Police Corps);
  • International Cooperation Section;
  • Italian Empire Section;
• Crisis Command Centre.

The Head of the II Unit, on the basis of the orders and the superior directives, carries out command and address functions in the operative field; he also has disciplinary tasks for Carabinieri assigned to Division VI - Criminal Police: not only CC.RR. bodies subordinated to the Division, but also for those directly part of the divisional offices.

Operations Office

The Operations Office (Ufficio Operazioni) has management duties in the extraordinary operations related to control of the territory, performs the operational analysis and is responsible for the study and development of the military employment doctrine of the Royal Carabinieri. The Office also participates in the elaboration of the inter-agency doctrine referring to special operations.
The Operations Room of the General Command acts as a driving force: it updates the General Commander and the central authorities on the evolution of particular situations and employs the operational reserves of the Royal Carabinieri. In case of emergency, it requires the use of helicopters to the Joint Police Air Service.

Organized Crime Office

The Organized Crime Office (Ufficio Criminalità Organizzata) is the main criminal police office with judicial police duties at the central level of the Royal Carabinieri. It is tasked with cooperation with Judiciary and with Division VI - Criminal Police of the Administration of Public Security. Its subdivisions act as autonomous analysis bodies, producing analysis and assessments for both the Directorate-General and the General Command.
The Organized Crime Office consists of three Sections:

• Section I - Itinerant Delinquency: its area of expertise is the fight against crime committed by itinerant criminals;
• Section II - Subversion and Terrorism: it is interfaced with the Intelligence and Security Organization and acts in cooperation with Section III - Public Order;
• Section III - Criminal Analysis: it functionally depends on Division VI - Criminal Police as an autonomous analysis body.

Plans and Military Police Office

The Plans and Military Police Office deals with operational, contingency and emergency planning, with planning of current military operations, with the elaboration of the Strategic, Operational and Tactical Joint Doctrine, and with coordination of the activities of several bodies (CC.RR. and C.P.R. territorial bodies, CC.RR. Military Police Command, and G.N.R. Military Police Command) with the the O.V.R.A. and the Military Information Service. The Office is subdivided into four Sections:

• Section I - Plans: manages the military cooperation with the military forces of the Italian Empire and coordinates the military police issues at national level and within the Italian Empire.
• Section II - Bilateral cooperation: manages bilateral or multilateral cooperation programs that involve the Weapon involved in foreign military employment and cooperation programs arising from diplomatic relations between Italy and other countries.
• Section III - Current Military Operations: the section manages daily missions, that is, it manages all the aspects and problems related to the active participation of the Carabinieri contingents in operations outside police duties (in Italy, in one or more Realms of the Italian Empire, or abroad), which go from finding the appropriate personnel, then passing them to the operating theatre, up to the actual operational aspects that revolve around the missions;
• Section IV - Internal inspections: manages judicial inquiries concerning the personnel of the Royal Carabinieri, as well as for the inspection and control of the service.

Crisis Command Centre

The Crisis Command Centre (Centro di Comando Crisi, C.C.C.) is a crisis planning and management tool available to the Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri. The Crisis Command Centre has a permanent projectable component that can be deployed for the benefit of the Public Security (tripartite) territorial command levels or made available to other administrative authorities faced with the management of a major crisis. The C.C.C. intervenes and brings its expertise to all levels of crisis management. Within the General Command, it provides analysis of operational information and prepares decision-making.
At the interregional, regional or provincial levels, the C.C.C. offers support for the planning of a large event, support for the management of an unexpected crisis or assistance in the conduct of a large-scale operational device. Its deployment allows the territorial command levels of the Royal Carabinieri to face an extraordinary event while continuing to deal with the daily activity.
To carry out its missions, the C.C.C. has staff experienced in planning and conducting operations in crisis situations. The C.C.C. is thus able to implement, even in very degraded environments, command and communication resources allowing it to continue its missions in total autonomy. It can thus deploy ad hoc communication networks, organize an emergency maneuver and conduct public order, public security, judicial police, road traffic or operational logistics operations. This allow the C.C.C. to be deployed also in the Italian Empire.

Political-Military Commission of the Royal Carabinieri

Political-Military Commission of the Royal Carabinieri (It: Commissione Politico-Militare dei Reali Carabinieri) is a military organization carrying out Fascist political education and supervision of the military personnel. The Commission directly controls the higher echelons of the professional military down to the divisional level.
The Military Political Commission of the Royal Carabinieri consists of a Political-Military Commissioner, of Major General rank, personal representative of Duce Italo Debalti, and of numerous Deputy Commissioners, most of whom are also accorded Brigadier General or Colonel rank. The Commission also has eight of Offices under it: General Affairs Office, Discipline inspection Office, A.N.C. Office, O.N.A.O.M.A.C. Office, Education Office, Liaison Office, Organization Office, Press and propaganda Office. The Commission also oversees the Carabinieri Military Museum and the Carabinieri publications.
Indoctrination is relatively relaxed and all O.V.R.A./P.N.F. organisations are strictly and severely prohibited from interfering with the regular chain of command and with military affairs.

Political-Military Commissioner

The Political-Military Commissioner of the Duce at the Royal Carabinieri (Italian: Commissario Politico-Militare del Duce presso i Reali Carabinieri) is the head of the political work of the Royal Carabinieri. The Commissioner is in charge of building P.N.F. organizations and directing political ideology, as well as building the force. The Political-Military Commissioner holds a unique position in the CC.RR. Incumbent CC.RR. Political-Military Commissioner is General of Division Tullio Di Madagoli, a former G.N.R. officer.

Organization

Besides the central organization, there are three levels of political education officers:

• Political Education Delegates (Delegato per l'Educazione Politica) are assigned to all organizations at the regiment and brigade level; Delegates are of Major to Lieutenant Colonel rank and operate the relevant Political-Military Unit Offices (Uffici Politico-Militari di Reparto).
• Political Education Directors (Direttore dell'Educazione Politica) are assigned to all battalion-level organizations; Directors are of Captain to Major rank and operate the relevant Political-Military Unit Offices (Uffici Politico-Militari di Reparto).
• Political Education Instructors (Istruttore di Educazione Politica) are assigned to all company-level organizations; they are Lieutenants. If the relevant Company-level unit is led by a Lieutenant, there is no Political Education Instructor. Below the battalion level, political control is exercised by so-called Political Groups (Gruppi Politici), together with the local P.N.F. local sections and associations, as well as with the Arms and Corps Associations.

All political officers have the responsibility of implementing decisions made by the P.N.F., strenghtening chain of command and unit cohesion, providing political education to the troops within their organization in cooperation with the relevant Military Association, working with other components of the political work system. A high percentage of political officers are selected from company-grade officers who have been P.N.F. members since they were cadets; however, some political officers also come from the M.V.S.N. or even are assigned directly from the P.N.F. drawing from political leaders with prior military or security experience.

Territorial organisation

The main and foremost focus of Carabinieri is the territorial organisation, aiming to be present in every inhabited centre. The operational focus is the Provincial Group, which is further subdivided into Detachments, Companies, Lieutenancies and Stations; on the other hand, the Provincial Group is framed within Legion and Inter-Regional Commands. The 75% of he Royal Carabinieri belongs to the Territorial Organization.

Interregional Commands

In order to ensure a direct and costant surveillance of the territory, alongside the Interregional Directorates of Public Security, there are 5 Carabinieri Interregional Commands having the same boundaries: these Commands are tasked with personnel general management with the same responsibilities of the Interregional Directorates, as well as training co-ordination of the Legions and administrative support. The Interregional Commands have therefore tasks of direction, coordination and control of the Legions and Groups (and not operational tasks). The Interregional Commands also assure the technical, logistical and administrative support of all the CC.RR. units located in their own territory, even if belonging to another organization within the Carabinieri, through the Administrative Logistic Technical Grouping.
In case of war, they report to their relevant Army Corps. Each Carabinieri Interregional Command is considered a Division command and it is led by a Major General. Current Divisions are:

• 1st Division "Pastrengo" (established in 1936): HQs in Milan and in charge for Lombardy, Piedmont and Savoy, Liguria and Aosta Valley;
• 2nd Division "Podgora" (established in 1936): HQs in Rome and in charge for Tuscany, Lazio, Rome, Marche, Umbria, Corsica and Sardinia;
• 3rd Division "Ogaden" (established in 1939): HQs in Naples and in charge for Campania, Basilicata, Apulia, Molise and Abruzzo;
• 4th Division "Carabinieri dello Stretto" (established in 1991): HQs Messina and in charge for Calabria and Sicily; the 4th C.P.R. Division was established by splitting the 3rd Division.
• 5th Division "Vittorio Veneto" (established in 1991): HQs in Padua and in charge for Trentino-Alto Adige, Emilia and Romagna, Veneto, Friuli, Venezia Giulia and Istria and Dalmatia; the 5th Division was established by splitting the 1st Division.

Such Interregional Commands are led by Carabinieri Major Generals. The Carabinieri Interregional Commands are framed within 5 Interregional Inspectorates, direct emanations of the General-Inspector of the Militarized Police Corps; the Interregional Inspectorates coordinate the Carabinieri Interregional Command and the counterpart C.P.R. Interregional Command and are ledy by officers belonging to Carabinieri or to C.P.R. on a rotationary base; whoever is the commander, he is assisted by the relevant Carabinieri Interregional Commander and C.P.R. Interregional Commander, as well as by a Chief of Staff (of the opposite corps of the Interregional Inspector). Therefore in any case there are four generals in each Interregional Inspectorate, two from the Carabinieri and two from the C.P.R.

Organisation

The Interregional Command is a complex body consisting of numerous offices and subdivisions:

• Staff;
• Administrative Logistic Technical Grouping;
  • General Affairs and Personnel Affairs Section;
• Operations Office;
  • Crime Section;
  • Military Police Section.

The Interregional Commander is assisted by the Aide-de-Camp and by the Secretariat. In particular, the Secretariat takes care of the activities entrusted by the Captain, in particular the arrangement of correspondence and the negotiations for which the Captain is responsible.

Administrative Logistic Technical Grouping

The Administrative Logistic Technical Grouping (Raggruppamento Tecnico, Logistico e Amministrativo, R.T.L.A.) is the body tasked to handle all support duties. The Grouping consists of offices, services and all the executive bodies (such as infirmaries, workshops and telematic laboratories) that work for the Arma departments located in the area covered by the interregional command.

General Affairs and Personnel Affairs Section

The General Affairs and Personnel Affairs Section is divided into three Ofices: General Affairs Office, Personnel Affairs Office, Litigation Office.
The General Affairs Office guarantees the fulfillment of the tasks concerning "general affairs", relations with the public and "social protection". The Office acts as an intermediary between the General Command and the regional level: it directs the correct application of the instructions given by the General Command or the Interregional Command in the sectors of respective interest, intervening with specific directives, taking care of relations between the employees of the Regional Command employee and those of the General Command. The General Affairs Office also provides the general protocol and archive activities and performs any other task delegated or delegated by the General Command and oversees the planning and execution of the inspections of the Commander to the dependent departments.
The Personnel Affairs Office ensures the management of its personnel (officers, marshals and troops), including training activities. The Office avails itself of the "Matriculation Section" of the Legion Command for the management of Non-commissioned Officers and Troops, directs the correct application of the provisions governing the employment of personnel, gives detailed instructions in relation to the provisions of the General Command, directs reports between the corresponding articulations of the Legion Command employee and those of the General Command and ensures the fulfillment of any other task delegated or delegated by the General Command. The Personnel Affairs Office also manages administrative procedures in the field of discipline.
The Litigation Office provides all the preliminary activities for the decision of the hierarchical appeals against acts and measures adopted by the officers under examination; moreover, it sends opinions on external litigation (civil or criminal).

Operations Office

The Operations Office is divided into two sections. The 1st Section ensures the fulfillment of the duties related to the operational activity, expresses its opinion in the discussions concerning the attribution of the name of the buildings in use to the dependent departments and the construction of stones, gravestones and related monuments, performs any other task delegated . The 2nd Section verifies the adequacy of the subordinate departments in the performance of the service, defining the operational priorities.

Carabinieri Legion

At the regional level, militarized police forces are framed within the regional commands, direct emanations of the General-Inspector of the Militarized Police Corps, led by a Brigadier General belonging to Carabinieri or to C.P.R. on a rotationary base. Whoever is the commander, he is assisted by the relevant Carabinieri Legion Commander and C.P.R. Area Inspector, as well as by a Chief of Staff (of the oopposite corps of the regional commander).
The Carabinieri Legion is a territorial military unit of the Royal Carabinieri, with prevalent public order functions in the territory of an Administrative Region. It has functions of control and coordination of the Provincial Groups. Furthermore, he is responsible for the entire region of personnel management. The Legion commands are led by a Brigadier General and directed in turn by the Interregional Commands.
Carabinieri Legion responsibilities include mainly logistics support and other functions; Legion commanders also provide coordination of the Carabinieri activities in the territory of the subordinate commands, allocation of their personnel, for extraordinary tasks, for special military, public security or public order requirements, if necessary in conjunction with the military authorities or with the competent Prefect and Quaestor.
The Legion is commanded by a Brigadier General, who employs a Deputy Commander, and is structured on a General Staff that has:

• Command department;
• Personnel office;
• Organisation, Training, Information, Operations Office;
• National shooting Office;
• Logistics office;
• Administrative service directed by a senior officer
• Office of spiritual assistance directed by a military chaplain
• Legion infirmary

The Provincial Groups depend on the legion command. When the Legion Command controls only one Provincial Group (i.e. in Rome and in Umbria) the Provincial Group is merged with the Legion organization; internal control functions are entrusted to the relevant Interregional Command.

Provincial Group

The Provincial Group (Italian: Gruppo Provinciale) has general responsibility in an administrative province and exercises the command, direction, coordination and control of subordinate units and is the main external reference point of the Royal Carabinieri. The Group has the responsibility of analyzing and fitting of operational activities and criminal law-enforcement in the province also conducted by specialized units. Departments (It: Reparti) and the Judiciary and Services Unit depend directly on the Provincial Group.
The fundamental feature of the Carabinieri lies in the Provincial Group organisation: every echelon with a jurisdiction over two or more Territorial Stations has a distinct investigation unit (usually qualified a "Operational"): the Provincial Group has an Operational Department (of a level and rank equal to other Departments); every Territorial Department has an Operational Unit (Company-level) and every Company has an Operational Section (Platoon/Lieutenancy-level). On the other hand, Operational bodies rely on the support provided by Territorial Police Stations and Lieutenancies.
The Group Commander is the propulsor, regulator and coordinator of all the activities of the Arma in the province and carries out its directional action in the framework of the superior directives and the particular requirements of the order and public security of the jurisdiction. He is responsible for the functioning and activity of the Arma in the province, and intervenes in the organization of the information service and of preventive surveillance activity.
In the field of judicial police, the Group Commander brings his personal contribution for the investigations to be conducted with assiduous commitment: he coordinates the investigations when they extend to the whole territory of jurisdiction and takes over when the exceptional gravity or particular require it. resonance of the crimes occurred. He must also have a profound knowledge of the province so as to be able to report immediately on facts, events and situations of particular importance.
The Group Commander inspects the services performed by the subordinate commands as often as possible, maintains relations with the prefect, with the Questore, with the public prosecutor of the Republic and with the commander of the garrison.
A Detachment may be a Territorial Department (Reparto Territoriale), grouping Companies in a given part of the Province with scaler organ functions, or may be a Functional Department (Reparto Funzionale), usually headquartered in the provincial capital, in charge of central services. Below the Provincial Group there are the local commands: Companies, which organize Stations and, in larger provincial centers, Lieutenancies. While Companies carry on autonomous existence and operations, both Lieutenancies and Stations are scaler commands, with limited capablities.
In every Province there are at least the Operational Department (Reparto Operativo), which groups the Patrol Car Unit, the Informmation Unit, the Investigative Unit and the Section of Judicial Police; there may be a variable number of Territorial Detachments and Companies. The Provincial Group Commander is usually a Lieutenant Colonel, but in more inhabited provinces the Commander may be a Colonel or even a Brigadier General (only in Rome). Territorial Departments also have an Operational Unit (Unità Operativa, in turn grouping the Information Section and the Investigative Section).
In the Arma dei Carabinieri the lieutenant colonels, when they are in charge of the Group Command, perform exquisitely managerial duties, and the captains in charge of the Company Command have executive tasks.

Operational Department

In every Province there are at least the Operational Department (Reparto Operativo), which groups the Patrol Car Unit, the Informmation Unit, the Investigative Unit and the Section of Judicial Police. Territorial Departments also have an Operational Unit (Unità Operativa, Company-level, in turn grouping the Information Section and the Investigative Section). Within a Provincial Group Command, the Operational Department is a Battalion-level subdivision. The Operational Depatment is subdivided into four organisations:

• Investigation Unit (Nucleo Investigativo);
• Information Unit (Nucleo Informativo);
• Patrol Car Unit (Nucleo Radiomobile);
• Section of Judicial Police (Sezione di Polizia Giudiziaria).

The Commander of the Operational Department holds, on rotationary basis, the Office of Criminal Police Investigations.

Investigation Unit

The Investigation Unit (Nucleo Investigativo) is the provincial investigative body of the Royal Carabinieri, also being the provincial coordination unit of the Carabinieri territorial companies. The Investigative Unit, which is Company-level subdivisions of the Operational Department, is divided distinctly by specialty, called "Sections" commanded by an officer or a senior subofficer:

• 1st section: Homicides and crimes against the person in general;
• 2nd section: Drug trafficking and arms trafficking;
• 3rd section: Robberies;
• 4th section: Organised crime;
• 5th section: Kidnappings
• 6th section: Offences against the Public Administration
• 7th section: Search for fugitives;
• 8th section: Economic crimes.

In smaller Provinces some sections are merged according to the need.

Information Unit

The Information Unit (Nucleo Informativo)is the Company-level subdivision of the Operational Department in charge of obtaining the information necessary for the Carabinieri, also outside the investigation. Everything is aimed at public and political order and security, as well as collaboration with other entities.

Among the missions of the Information Unit there is also the surveillance of the political orientation of the Carabinieri, the aspiring Carabinieri and their relatives. Informaton Units are among the terminals of the Intelligence and Security Organization.

Companies

Companies are the territorial Carabinieri garrisons. With the exception of command functions and duties, alongside with particular authorizations they cannot enact, they carry out almost the same role of the Provincial Group within the detective and investigation activities.
Companies in the municipalities that are not provincial capitals flank the local Commissariat of Public Security. In general, there is one Company per District, while Lieutenancies are one per Mandment: however, in particular cases, the rule could be ignored. In every Company there is an Investigation Nucleus and an Information Nucleus (grouped within the Operational Section) and an Autopatrol Detachment, belonging to the Autopatrol Squad, responsible for primary patrolling tasks. The officer in charge is therefore responsible for the activities of the station commands gravitating in that area (variable number 4, 5,6 but also 8 in some cases).
The Commander of each Company must ensure and provide order and tranquility of the people within its jurisdiction. For this purpose, the commander maintains frequent contact with the Provincial Group. The reports concerning the judicial sphere are also sent to the local Chief Prosecutor, while those of purely political nature are also sent to the Prefect. The action of the Commander focuses mainly on the monitoring of people dedicated to laziness and vagrancy, as potential serious offenders. Officers who could command a Captaincy are Lieutenent Colonel (very large Companies, usually in charge of co-ordinating some other small Companies as well as in charge of the local Territorial Detachment), Major (average Companies) or Captain (small or less important Companies).
The Company Commander directs, coordinates, activates and monitors the activities of the employee departments, effectively entering into the operating sector with direct personal participation and integrating the preventive and repressive surveillance activity of the subordinate stations. In the event of unrest and disruption of the public order, the Company Commander personally supervises the action of the subordinate units and ensures that the results of the judicial police are positive, intervening in person, where necessary, to direct and coordinate the investigations, and assuming the direction of those concerning the most serious crimes. The Company Commander frequently inspects the services performed by the subordinate stations.

Territorial Police Station

The Territorial Police Station (Italian: Stazione Territoriale di Polizia) is the lowest operational unit of the Public Security apparatus, articulated on the organic forces ranging from a minimum of 4 to over 20 units; it is the direct and most visible legacy of the former Savoy-era Royal Carabinieri Stations, and in most cases they are still operated by the Carabinieri. Stations are staffed only with military agents and subofficers, commanded by a Subofficer of the minimum rank of Marshal. The station is responsible in a very specific area: large portions of the civilian infrastructure or city, or one or more municipalities. The Station Commander is responsible for direct control of land and related institutional activities. The national soil is so carefully covered by the dense network of stations of the Royal Police Corps and Royal Carabinieri, which are also the custodians of the first task of protecting public order and safety within the area they encompass, as well as the first line of military police and counter-espionage activities. Stations are divided into three distinct sections:

• 1st category: the stations are placed with an operational focus and a less open to the public 8 hours per day.
• 2nd category: the stations are located which have a greater operational focus and are prepared to receive the public 14 hours a day distributed in 2 shifts from 8.00 to 22.00.
• 3rd category: the stations are those of crucial importance and cover the entire 24 hours through the system of shifts.

Regardless the category, each station is permanently manned. The most experienced non-commissioned officers are assigned to the command of the 3rd category stations, while the criterion of seniority determines the positions of command in the 2nd and 1st category. The station is the central element of territorial control and they are located in buildings specially constructed or upgraded in order to promote an effective defence. The premises of the station include a security prison, a chamber of discipline, a kitchen and a dining hall, housing the commander, one double every two agents, and, if married, one for each room and a garage. The stations, according to their own staff and to operational needs, can organize territorial mobile patrols, although it is not strictly required to do so.
The Station reports to the relevant Company/Subgroup commander for military, personnel and disciplinary matters, as well as for military police duties, and to the head of the Commissariat for all operational and functional police activities. Territorial Police Stations are usually responsible for more than one municipality, but the Carabinieri Marshal who is the Station Commander is the Local Authority of Public Security only in the municipality where the Station is located in and only if in that municipality there is not a Questura or a Detached Commissariat of Public Security.

Station Commander

The Station Commander (It: Comandante di Stazione) has several duties: he has the immediate direction of institutional service within his jurisdiction, where carries out the investigation, both proactive and delegated by the Prosecutor, as Public Security officer he intervenes in public and private disputes and exercises all initiatives in order to take appropriate preventive measures against socially dangerous people and, from a strictly managerial point of view, he is responsible for technical and operational using, for discipline and staff training, as well as for the properties, vehicle, computer and electronic equipment and furnishings.
The Station Commander responds personally of the smooth execution of orders and requests he received and, within the limits of his competence, prepares and implements the measures deemed necessary for the maintenance of order and public security, promptly proposing to the direct superior the needs he cannot face or the services he cannot perform. To this end, he keeps abreast of the situation, focusing attention on everything that may directly or indirectly affect the service, so as not to be surprised by the events.
In particular, the Station Commander must direct the services of the station, participating in it himself every time he sees the need, but always heading the most important ones, and must execute or direct the judicial police services, making use, for minor offences, of the work of subordinates for minor investigations; the Station Commander must assume the information, using, for those of minor importance, of the work of the subordinated Carabinieri, must supervise, without prejudice, parties, fairs and public meetings and must visit at least once a month municipalities and fractions included in the territory of the station, in order to constantly keep track of the facts, the events and the local situations.
For reasons of exceptional seriousness and urgency, the Station Commander may request reinforcements or other forms of collaboration from neighboring stations and must in turn adhere to similar requests, informing the direct superior in one case or another. The Station Commander also maintains the necessary relations with the civil and military authorities and provides them with the expected news and information.

Lieutenancy

The Lieutenancies are territorial garrisons, competent on a single municipality with a high number of inhabitants. They provide a 24-hour emergency response service and have independent judicial police activities. From the operational point of view, Lieutenancies are considered as particular Territorial Police Stations with more than 25 Carabinieri.
Lieutenancies are commanded by a Lieutenant, a Second Lieutenant (in most cases coming from the special role, then a former Subofficer), or an experienced Marshal Major - Special Grade.

Special Group Malta

The Malta Special Group (Italian: Gruppo Speciale di Malta, Maltese: Grupp Speċjali ta 'Malta) is the Carabinieri Provincial Group assigned to Malta.
The division of responsibilities between Carabinieri and Police is somewhat different in Malta. The overall command is represented by the Questura of La Valletta, while the military command is the Malta Police Joint Command (Italian: Comando di Polizia Interforze di Malta, Maltese: Kmand Konġunt tal-Pulizija ta 'Malta), a delegation of the Sicilian Area Inspectorate/Legion Command in order to carry out joint responsibilities regarding military coordination of the Corps activities, personnel allocation, and special requirements.
Subordinate to the Questura there are four Commissariats: Gozzo-Comino, Malta Settentrionale, Malta Meridionale and La Valletta. The Joint Command coordinates the two Carabinieri Companies (Gozzo-Comino and Malta Settentrionale) subordinate to the Carabinieri Malta Special Group and the two C.P.R. Subgroups (La Valletta and Malta Meridionale) subordinate to the C.P.R. Malta Special Group.
Carabinieri personnel assigned to municipalities within the boundaries a Commissariat associated with a C.P.R. Subgroup forms a "Detachment" subordinate to the Malta Meridionale Company, while C.P.R. personnel assigned to municipalities within the boundaries a Commissariat associated with a Carabinieri Company forms a similar "Detachment" under the La Valletta Subgroup.
The Royal Police Corps Special Group patrols the capital city, La Valletta, and municipalties over 10,000 inhabitants: Birchircara, Birzebbugia, Casal Attard, Casal Melleha, Casal Santa Caterina, Casal Zebbugi, Curmi, Figura, Marsascala, Mosta, Nasciaro, Rabato della Notabile, San Giovanni a Malta, San Giuliano di Malta, San Paolo a Mare, Sliema, Suiechi, Zabbaria, Zurrico, on Malta Island, while the Carabinieri Special Group is in charge for the remaining municipalities.
The Carabinieri Special Group is also in charge for the Rapid Intervention Unit (Italian: Unità di Intervento Rapido, Maltese: Unità ta 'Intervent Rapidu), a SWAT-like unit permanently deployed in the archipelago.

Forest environmental and food protection Units Division

The Carabinieri Forest, environmental and agri-food protection Units Division (Divisione Unità per la Tutela Forestale, Ambientale e Agroalimentare, officially shortened in D.U.Tu.F.A.AG.), also known as Forestry Command (Comando Forestale), is the Carabinieri Division-level command tasked with environmental police functions. Although it operationally depends on the Ministry of Environment, it is not framed within the Inspectorate Units Division because of its sheer dimensions and of the importance in the territorial control which the Division fullfils. The D.U.Tu.F.A.AG. is supported by the Forestry Militia
The Division, alongside central administrative offices, has six important elements which operate at the national level:

• Central Investigative Unit of environmental and forest police;
• Central Forest Fire Investigative Unit;
• Central Ecological Operations Unit;
• Central Unit for Forest Protection;
• Central Unit for the Protection of Biodiversity and Parks;
• Central Unit for Environmental Protection;
• Central Unit for Agri-food Protection.

The Central Units coordinate their relevant units within the Legion Environmental Commands.

Peripheral organisation

The peripheral organisational structure of the Division is quite complex. At the regional level there are 21 Legion Environmental Commands (Comando Ambientale di Legione, led by Lieutenant Colonels or Colonels) which link territorial structures to Divisional commands. Each Legion Environmental Command has a Food and Agricolture Investigative Team (Squadra Investigativa Agro-alimentare, S.I.A.A.), which is primarily active in the field of prevention of fraud and of the food chain control, and cooperates with the SIPAF for police investigations, and an Ecological Operations Unit (Nucleo Operativo Ecologico, N.O.E.).
The Provincial Environmental Detachments (led by Majors or Captains) operate at the provincial level. In addition to the offices in charge of the administration, the Provincial Environmental Detachments have a Investigative Team of Environmental and Forestry Police (Squadra Investigativa di Polizia Ambientale e Forestale, S.I.P.A.F.) that deals with all criminal investigations in the environmental field. The Division is further divided into commands Forestry Station, which depend hierarchically from the Provincial Environmental Detachments. Forestry Stations are normal Police stations but have additional tasks.

R.O.S.

The R.O.S. (Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale or Special Operational Group) is an elite unit founded in 1990 to deal with organised crime (Mafia and others), subversive activities, terrorism and more complex types of crime. An anti-crime section is found in every city and district public prosecutor's office. The R.O.S., due to its mission, closely cooperates with the Intelligence and Security Organization.

Mobile Units Division

Coat of arms of the Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia".

The Carabinieri Mobile Units Division (Divisione Carabinieri Unità Mobili, officially shortened in D.U.M. CC.) is a Division-level command which controls the 1st and 2nd Carabinieri Mobile Brigades and other units specialized in military-type missions. Currently, C.C. Mobile units are:

• Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion "Tuscia" (headquartered in Naples), for sudden crisis and emergency;
• Royal Carabinieri Cavalry Squadrons Group (head-quartered in Rome): it is organized into three Squadrons (based in Cagliari, Palermo and Bari) and used in order to reinforce public order services as well as for operations in rural areas.
• 1st Royal Carabinieri Mobile Brigade: HQs in Naples, led by a Carabinieri Brigadier General, in charge for Carabinieri riot units based in Naples (I Battaglione Carabinieri), in Bari (II Battaglione Carabinieri), in Catania (III Battaglione Carabinieri), in Palermo (IV Battaglione Carabinieri), in Reggio Calabria (V Battaglione Carabinieri) and in Taranto (VI Battaglione Carabinieri). The 1st Carabinieri Mobile Brigade is not tasked with military duties, because in wartime all six Carabinieri Battalions are to be integrated within select Army Brigades (togheter with the Celere Units of the Royal Police Corps) as mechanised infantry battalions.
• 2nd Royal Carabinieri Mobile Brigade: HQs in Padua, in charge for Carabinieri riot units based in Padua (VII Battaglione Carabinieri), in Pordenone (VIII Battaglione Carabinieri), in Cagliari (IX Battaglione Carabinieri), in Turin (X Battaglione Carabinieri), in Perugia (XI Battaglione Carabinieri) and in Rome (XII Battaglione Carabinieri). The 2nd Carabinieri Mobile Brigade is not tasked with military duties, because in wartime all six Carabinieri Battalions are to be integrated within select Army Brigades (togheter with the Celere Units of the Royal Police Corps) as mechanised infantry battalions.
• 5 Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers Counter-guerilla Battalions (head-quartered in Cagliari, Vibo Valentia, Naples, Rome and Palermo). In wartime, each Paratrooper Carabinieri Counter-guerilla Battalion is to be integrated within an individual Army Alpine Brigade.

All Carabinieri and their units may also be deployed in the Realms of the Italian Empire, should the need arise. Usually, three to four Carabinieri Battalions are always deployed in the Realms of the Italian Empire on a rotatory basis, in order to provide support to the governments.

Paratrooper Carabinieri Counter-guerilla Battalions

The Royal Carabinieri maintains five Carabinieri Paratroopers Counter-guerilla Battalions (Battaglioni Carabinieri Paracadutisti Antiguerriglia), head-quartered in Cagliari, Vibo Valentia, Naples, Rome and Palermo. In wartime, each Paratrooper Carabinieri Counter-guerilla Battalion is to be integrated within an individual Army Alpine Brigade. The Cagliari Battalion maintains the traditional name of Banditry Prevention Unit (Reparto Prevenzione Banditismo). The Battalions have uniforms, armament and equipment specifically designed for the particular type of service performed.

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  1st Carabinieri Paratroopers Counter-guerilla Battalion, based in Rome.

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  2nd Carabinieri Paratroopers Counter-guerilla Battalion, based in Naples.

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  3rd Carabinieri Paratroopers Counter-guerilla Battalion, based in Palermo.

• 

  4th Carabinieri Paratroopers Counter-guerilla Battalion, based in Vibo Valentia.

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  Banditry Prevention Unit, based in Cagliari.

Special Public Security Command

Until mid-1990s, CCUSPS forces were hastly deployed in order to curb social protests; nowadays they are used to support G.N.R. troops.

The Carabinieri Public Security Special Units Command (Italian: Comando Carabinieri Unità Speciali per la Pubblica Sicurezza) or shortly as C.C.U.S.P.S., is the domestic special forces unit of the Carabinieri. It has several missions which include counter-terrorist actions, urban warfare, underwater operations, hostage rescue, riot control, and other high-threat criminal actions and, for military duties, direct actions, as well as support to special operations forces. Members of the unit receive extensive training from selected Army instructors and also at the Police Schools. The Command is Regiment-sized (four Battalion-sized Groups) and depends only on the Carabinieri General Command; it is to note that the Command lies outside the Mobile Units Division, because its units are employed in confidential missions unrelated to the public order protection. All companies work under the direction of the Police and Carabinieri regional commands to which they are assigned, but can also receive tasking from Rome.

Carabinieri Special Operations Group

The Carabinieri Special Operations Group (Italian: Gruppo Carabinieri Operazioni Speciali) or G.O.S., is the special operations unit of the Carabinieri. It has several missions which includes search and destroy, infiltration and reconnaissance actions. Members of the unit receive extensive training at the Carabinieri School and also from selected Army instructors. All three companies work under the direction of the Army regions to which they are assigned, but can also receive tasking from their headquarters in Rome.

Military Police Command

Emblem of the Royal Carabinieri Military Police Command.

Military police functions and duties for the Armed Forces are among the most important functions of the Royal Carabinieri. The Military Police Command (It: Comando della Polizia Militare) has a direct function to deal with and prosecute cases of espionage that threaten state and/or military security, the protection of the plans and military installations, as well as any other project and experiment to keep secret. Surveillance and interventions to be carried out to enforce discipline, security and safety of military personnel, or to ensure the rear security, or regrouping disbanded soldiers or units which are engaged in combat are also military police tasks. The Military Police Command has to prevent and combat all forms of activities which may prejudice the security and defence of the State from a military point of view. Activities related to military police dutiess are therefore considered to be mainly:

• Military intelligence;
• Prevention and repression of infringement of provisions laid down to better protect military secrets or the military defence of the State;
• Prevention and repression of subversive and defeatist propaganda within the Italian Armed Forces or aimed to them;
• Prevention and repression of
• Prevention of attacks on facilities of military interest;
• Prevention and repression of thefts of weapons, ammunition and military equipment.

Some of these activities take only an indirect interest in the military, but have a predominantly political foundation and therefore the action of prevention and repression is primarily devolved to other organs (OVRA, Military intelligence). It is not always possible to establish a clear line of demarcation between the strictly military and the political field. The relevant service is divided into two main branches: "strict military police" and "military counter-intelligence". The first one reflects the implementation of all preventive measures, whether general or particular, to combat subversive and defeatist propaganda, to ensure the works safety and military equipment. The military counter-intelligence service tends to identify the agents of spying and monitoring its tasks in order to stamp out the action at the appropriate time. Therefore, the body in charge of counter-intelligence is the Military InformationService. The Military Police Command in this field is the executive agency of the military police service in co-operation with the S.I.M., while the Public Security and even the O.V.R.A. are considered subsidiary bodies. However, the help of the O.V.R.A. is valuable in this field if it is considered that the activities have in their very nature a foundation of a political nature.
On the metropolitan territory, the military police monitors compliance with applicable laws, regulations and the provisions of the military authorities and takes Armed Forces security actions, participating in exercises. The Military Police Command also ensures contacts with the Provincial Legions of the Militia, in order to control military traffic.

Insult to the Armed Forces

The offence of Insult to the Armed Forces is strictly enforced in order to fight against defeatism and pacifism. Among other targets (Duce, Government, judiciary and other institutions) anyone who reviles the Armeed Forces is punished with imprisonment from 6 months to 3 years. The same penalty applies to those who publicly defame the Armed Forces of the Revolution, as well as all Military Corps tasked with police or law enforcement duties and civilian agencies or personnel in the public security apparatus.
The penalty provided in cases of offense to the honor or prestige of the King-Duce, of the vilification of the Armed Forces and of the Flag or of any other emblem of the State is increased, if the act is committed by the military on leave. It is considered military on leave who, not being in service to arms, has not ceased to belong to the Armed Forces of the State or the Revolution. The penalty is also increased if the fact is committed by a citizen abroad.
The concept of vilification is a concept of itself indeterminate and is one of the major institutional limits to the free expression of thought. However, the conduct must then be publicly carried out; such publicity constitutes an objective condition of punishment, which may not be known and/or desired by the agent. The catalog of institutions is to be considered non-exhaustive and therefore extensible.

Military criminal police

The criminal police must, on its own initiative, take information and notice of offences, prevent them from being carried further consequences, search for the authors, take the steps necessary to ensure the sources of evidence and collect anything can serve for the application of the criminal law; it also has to carry out any investigation and activities arranged or delegated by the court. For offences falling within the jurisdiction of the military criminal police functions are exercised by:

• Corps, Detachment or Post Commanders. If there are more military units involved, the head is the highest ranking officer;
• Military Police Command personnel.

The Corps Commander of each military installation is an Officer of the Military Judicial Police: the resulting judicial activity within the individual military installations is expressed with regard to military offences. Therefore, in the presence of the Corps Commander, the other police officers are exempt from the duty of performing of the functions of the military criminal police.

Organisation

The Chief of Defence General Staff directs, coordinates and controls the activities of military police making use of the Information and Security Department of the Defence General Staff, and the General Command of the Carabinieri in the preparation of technical provisions. The military police structures are established under joint element in Italy and abroad, or within the individual M.V.S.N. branch, with the determination of the Commandant-General. Alongside Carabinieri Military Police, however, there are also the G.N.R. Military Police.
The military police structures depend hierarchically on the authorities listed in the Armed Forces and joint regulations, as defined respectively by the Chief of the Defence General Staff and the Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces. The Chief of the Defence General Staff and the General Command also maintain the technical link with military police units and departments.
The work of territorial surveillance is carried out by Territorial Stations of the Royal Police Corps and of the Royal Carabinieri, by the Military Districts and by the M.V.S.N. Provincial Legions; the MP Command receives information from both the Party territorial corps and from the Plans and Military Police Office of the CC.RR. General Command.
The Military Police Command - headed by a CC.RR. Brigadier General - commands and controls over 6,000 Royal Carabinieri (about 5% of the total force), organized in the following units:

• Ministry of National Defence CC.RR. Unit (Reparto CC.RR. Difesa Gabinetto);
• Defence General Staff CC.RR. Unit (Reparto CC.RR. Stato Maggiore Difesa);
  • Special Investigation CC.RR. Unit (Reparto CC.RR. Investigazioni Speciali);
  • Surveillance Team (Nucleo Vigilanza);
  • Auxiliary Corps CC.RR. Command (Comando Carabinieri Corpi Ausiliari)
• Autonomous CC.RR. Group (Gruppo CC.RR. Autonomo);
  • SEGREDIFESA CC.RR. Unit (Reparto CC.RR. SEGREDIFESA);
  • CC.RR. Sections and Teams at Joint military-industrial complex;
• Military Information Service CC.RR. Group (Gruppo CC.RR. presso il Servizio Informazioni Militari): military police organs within S.I.M.;
• Second Unit of Information and Security CC.RR. Group (Gruppo CC.RR. presso il II R.I.S.): in charge for military police organs within the II R.I.S. and S.I.O.S.;
• Italian National Royal Army CC.RR. Command (Comando CC.RR. per il Regia Esercito Nazionale Italiano), 4,000 Carabinieri;
• Italian National Royal Navy CC.RR. Command (Comando CC.RR. per la Regia Marina da Guerra Nazionale Italiana), 1,100 Carabinieri;
• Italian National Royal Air Force CC.RR. Command (Comando CC.RR. per la Regia Aeronautica Nazionale Italiana), 1,200 Carabinieri;

The basic organizational level of the Military Police Command is the "MP Section" (Sezione di Polizia Militare), consisting of 75 Carabinieri and commanded by a CC.RR. Captain and established at the Brigade level. Any military base has a number of Royal Carabinieri at their disposal as military police.

Army Command

The Italian National Royal Army Royal Carabinieri Command (Comando Carabinieri Reali per il Regio Esercito Nazionale Italiano) is led by a Colonel with Tasks of the Higher Rank. The Command employs about 4,000 Carabinieri and is divided into three main echelons:

• Army General Staff CC.RR. Unit (Reparto CC.RR. Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito);
• CC.RR. Sections (Sezioni) and Teams (Nuclei) at Army High Commands and Formations, i.e. down to Brigade level; Military Police Sections are tasked to follow and provide M.P. assistance to their assigned Brigade both at home and abroad;
• Military Police Teams assigned to territorial duty at the relevant Army District and Provincial Group (if the see of both is different from the headquarters of a formation).

Air Force Command

The Italian National Royal Air Force Royal Carabinieri Command (Comando Carabinieri Reali per la Regia Aeronautica Nazionale Italiana) is led by a Colonel with Tasks of the Higher Rank, with 10 Companies and 61 Carabinieri Stations (normally located at military airfields and airbases) employed. The Command employs 1,100 Carabinieri and is divided into four main echelons:

• Carabinieri Unit at the General Security Unit of the National Royal Air Force General Staff (liasion duties);
• Carabinieri Command - CENTRE (based in Rome) led by a Major and guarding the aifields in central Italy: Roma Centocelle, Ajaccio, Capua Cerveteri, Ciampino, Furbara, Grottaglie, Montecelio and Vigna di Valle.
• Carabinieri Command - NORTH (based in Milan), led by a Major and consisting of Carabinieri Stations distributed between the airports in northern Italy: Milan, Aviano, Cascina Malpensa, Cervia, Cinisello, Ghedi, Istrana, Lonate Pozzolo, Mirafiori, Padua, Rivolto, San Damiano, Taliedo, Treviso, Verona and Vicenza.
• Carabinieri Command - SOUTH (based in Bari), led by a Major and in charge for all southern military airfields, including those of Sicily, Sardinia, Lampeduse and Malta: Decimomannu, Gioia del Colle, Lampedusa, La Valletta, Sigonella.

The carabinieri, as military police, are present inside the airports and control towers. At military installations of a certain importance, the Carabinieri of the military police belong to the S.I.O.S..
Each Wing (Stormo, Colonel-commanded) is based in its own military airport, and therefore has its own Carabinieri Military Police Station, while Groups (Gruppo, Lieutenant Colonel-commanded) have subordinate detachments on non-permanent basis; however, Missile Groups have their own Carabinieri Stations alongside G.N.R. detachments.

Navy Command

The Italian National Royal Navy Royal Carabinieri Command (Comando Carabinieri Reali per la Regia Marina Nazionale Italiana) has surveillance, judicial police, military and security police duties for the protection of secrecy, as well as special information activities. The Command is led by a Colonel and employs about 1,200 Carabinieri. The supervisory and security tasks assigned to the Carabinieri employees of the Ministry of Defense-Navy find a natural connection with those carried out by the Coast Guard. The Command includes:

• Group Command based in Rome,
• 1 Military Police Section for special services based in Rome;
• 1 Military Police Section at the Navy General Staff;
  • Navy General Staff Security CC.RR. Unit (Reparto CC.RR. di Sicurezza dello S.M.M.);
• 5 Military Police Sections, with offices in La Spezia, Taranto, Naples, Pola and Malta, each responsible for seconded Teams (Nuclei);
• 1 Military Police Section for the Marine Brigade;
• 6 Inter-Regional Security Agencies (Rome, Naples, Taranto, La Spezia, Livorno and Messina);
  • several Basic Security Agencies and 30 CC.RR. Stations;

The S.I.O.S. Marina Carabinieri Unit, composed of 9 MP Teams (Nuclei P.M.) variously displaced, also refers to the Command.

Wartime organisation

In general terms, all Royal Carabinieri have military police powers and duties. In wartime, the Corps provides general support to the military effort (just as it does in peacetime), with some organisational adjustments. When a general mobilisation order is issued, Royal Carabinieri assigned to Military Police Command are augmented by other personnel.
The territorial forces, being the central focus of the Carabinieri, are on the frontline. All military police units in a Province are merged, and each Provincial Group singles out a Military Police Section (Sezione P.M., Company-level unit) or a Military Police Team (Nucleo P.M., Platoon-level unit) to be assigned to the operating troops or to rear duty. For military police matters, the Royal Guard of Finance, the Questura and the Royal Police Corps are subordinate to the relevant Carabinieri command. In order to preserve hierarchical lines, usually the Carabinieri Interregional Command directs units and bodies within its jurisdiction, but if deemed necessary the Provincial Group Commander may issue orders.
Each Carabinieri Battalion provides an additional M.P. Team, to be assigned to the relevant Army Corps; however, all Carabinieri may perform military police tasks.
Each C.P.R. echelon above Province merges its M.P. organs with the relevant Carabinieri counterpart, in order to generate a personnel excess and to establish auxiliary M.P. Teams, to be assigned in support to a Carabinieri M.P. Section. Also each C.P.R. Celere Unit provides an Auxiliary M.P. Team; Celere Units assigned to Army Brigades may act as military police auxiliaries in support to the military police units of the relevant Brigade or higher formation they are assigned to. Both Carabinieri Battalions and Celere Units are the preferred units for occupation duties.
Each of the 19 Inter-provincial Compartments of the Highway Police Service provides at least an its own Section (a Company, acting just as a M.P. Section) for traffic police duties. Similarly, each of the 17 a C.P.R. Groups assigned to the Railway Police provides a Subgroup (a Company, acting just as a M.P. Section) for railway transit regulation. Both Highway Police and Railway Police M.P. Sections are integrated by a CC.RR. M.P. Section and by corresponding M.V.S.N. units of Highway Militia and Railway Militia in order to form organic Traffic/Railway M.P. Units (Reparti P.M. Stradale/Ferroviaria, battalion-level units led by the senior CC.RR. officer).
The Royal Guard of Finance provides a M.P. Section for each Regional Command, while the Coast Guard does not provide additional units, already carrying out an auxiliary military police role in peacetime.

Operational Reserve

The Operational Reserve (Italian: Riserva Operativa) is the rate of the Royal Carabinieri of the territorial and forest organization in a state of operational and combat readiness, in order to have an additional maneuvering mass with respect to the Mobile Units Division. The Royal Carabinieri ordinarily keep 10% of the personnel belonging to the territorial and forest organization in a condition of operational readiness. The personnel is made to pass through the Operating Reserve on a rotating basis and the ordinary stay is two months.At any given moment, there are about 10,000 Royal Carabinieri in the Operational Reserve.
The Operational Reserve is distributed in three operational and combat readiness levels:

• Immediate Operational Readiness: 30% of the Operational Reserve (3,000 Royal Carabinieri);
• 24-hours Operational Readiness: 40% of the Operational Reserve (4,000 Royal Carabinieri);
• 48-hours Operational Readiness: 30% of the Operational Reserve (3,000 Royal Carabinieri).

Carabinieri units nomenclature

The Royal Carabinieri, differently from the Italian National Royal Army and from the Royal Police Corps, has an its own units nomenclature.

Italian National Royal Army (Arm of Infantry) (English translation)	Territorial echelons1 (English translation)	Investigative bodies (English translation)	Military Police (English translation)	Mobile Forces (English translation)
Squadra (Squad)	Stazione Territoriale2 (Territorial Station)	Nucleo P.G. (Judicial Police Team)	Squadra di P.M. (M.P. Squad)	Squadra (Squad)
Plotone (Platoon)	Tenenza (Lieutenancy)	Sezione Operativa (Operational Section)	Nucleo di P.M. (M.P. Team)	Plotone (Platoon)
Compagnia (Company)	Compagnia (Company)	Unità Operativa (Operational Unit)	Sezione di P.M. (M.P. Section)	Compagnia (Company)
Battaglione (Battalion)	Reparto Territoriale (Territorial Department)	Reparto Operativo (Operational Department)	Reparto di P.M. (M.P. Unit)	Battaglione (Battalion)
Reggimento (Regiment)	Gruppo Provinciale3 (Provincial Group)	-	Comando4 (Command)	-
Brigata (Brigade)	Legione (Legion)	-	Comando5 (Command)	Brigata (Brigade)
Divisione (Division)	Comando Interregionale (Interregional Command)	-	Comando Carabnieri Polizia Militare (Carabinieri Military Police Command)	Divisione Carabinieri Unità Mobili (Carabinieri Mobile Units Division)
Notes 1Also used for specialised bodies; 2Led by a Brigadier or by a Marshal according the importance. In the latter case, it is considered to be equivalent to a Platoon. 3 Usually led by a Lieutenant Colonel; 4 Subordinate to the M.P. organisation for an individual armed force; 5 In charge for M.P. duties for an individual Armed Force.

Officers

Through public competition it is possible to access the following Royal Carabinieri Officers Roles: Normal, Technical and Forestry. In general, to achieve the appointment as an officer in permanent service, the following requirements must be met:

• be an Italian citizen or of Italian race and nationality;
• be in possession of a high school diploma (with official preference granted to Military Schools and Classic High Schools);
• be enrolled in the P.N.F. and enjoy civil and political rights;
• be of good morality;
• be in possession of the psychophysical and attitudinal suitability to the unconditional service, ascertained by the General Command of the Royal Carabinieri;
• have not been dismissed, dispensed or declared lapsed from employment in a public administration or acquitted by authority from previous enlistment in the M.V.S.N., Armed Forces or in the Public Security Administration.

Normal Role

Officers of the Normal Role (Ufficiali del Ruolo Normale) of the Royal Carabinieri are recruited through the Military Academy (together with the Army and M.V.S.N. Officer Cadets). At the end of the two-year period, the students are appointed Second Lieutenants. The studies continue for another three years at the Carabinieri Officers School, after which the Second Lieutenant achieves his degree in "Internal and External Security Sciences" and, on a selected basis, also that in "Jurisprudence" (in addition to the normal military subjects taught both at the Military Academy and at the Carabinieri Officers School). Officers with a degree in Jurisprudence are usually appointed to the territorial organization.

Special Role

Officers of the Carabinieri are also drawn, through an internal competition for qualifications and exams, from Marshals of the Royal Carabinieri. In this case, former Subofficers form the Special Role (Ufficiali del Ruolo Speciale) and tend to be assigned to staff positions or to areas where experience is more needed than formal education.

Technical Role

Officers of the Technical Role (Ufficiali del Ruolo Tecnico) of the Royal Carabinieri are recruited, through public competition for qualifications and exams, among:

• Graduates who have not passed the thirty-second year of age in possession of the degree required by the competition announcement (doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians, chemists, physicists, etc.) after undergoing a year-long training;
• Marshals of the Royal Carabinieri who have not passed the fortieth year of age in possession of the degree required by the competition announcement (doctors, pharmacists, veterinarians, chemists, physicists, etc.). These former Subofficers are placed in the Special Technical Role (Ruolo Speciale Tecnico);
• Officer Students who have completed the same training process as the corresponding Army organizations.

Forestal Role

Officers of the Forestal Role (Ufficiali del Ruolo Forestale) of the Royal Carabinieri are recruited both among the Italian citizens and among the Marshals of the Royal Carabinieri, in possession of specific requisites foreseen by the competition announcement. It is to note that, when the Officer is not a former Subofficer, an Officer of the Forestal Role has obtained a civilian degree before joining Carabinieri.

Officers training

Officer Cadets of the Normal Role and Officer Students who have completed the same training process as the corresponding Army organizations of the Technical Role are first trained at the Military Academy in Modena together with the Army and M.V.S.N. Cadets. Army, M.V.S.N. and Carabinieri Cadets are organised in separate Cadet Battalions and follow three similar but separate courses. Common subjects are taught in unitary manner in order to provide homogeneity.

Recruit education is divided into five main pillars of learning: administration and organisations; jurisprudence; military training; military studies; specific police studies; political and humanities studies. In addition to these subjects, there is also a highly prized centre for extracurricular activities, including participation in advanced military training, security studies and voluteering in public order services. Alongside this, there are professional internships at Royal Carabinieri units and experience outside the physical space of the academy, such as the Army training camps.
During the first two years at the Military Academy, Carabinieri Cadets stay at the Military Academy from Monday morning to Sunday evening. They may spend the weekends with their families if they have earned a pass and are not being punished. The recruits are mainly from upper middle‐class backgrounds.

After two years, passed Carabinieri Cadets are promoted Second Lieutenants and then transferred to the Carabinieri Officers School, where military training is less emphasized in favour of the completion of the university degrees in jurisprudence or internal security studies. During the three years at the Carabinieri Officers School, Officers stay at the Military Academy from Monday morning to Friday afternoon. They may spend the weekends with their families if they are not being punished.

Hazing as method of shaping officers' personality

Hazing rituals are found in many institutions, proclaiming the rules of the group and signaling changes in freshmen's identities. The persistent practice of hazing is a reflection of conservatism in the Royal Carabinieri section of the Military Academy, which cling to old, familiar beliefs and teaching practices. The education of Royal Carabinieri Officer Cadets takes place within the walls of the Military Academy in Modena and then at the Carabinieri Officers School. The Military Academy is a complex steeped in history and tradition. Before a student enrolls and obtains a scholarship, he must take a competitive admissions test.

Hazing works in two ways: it celebrates the inclusion of newcomers, playfully exorcising their civilian identities, as well as benefiting the seniors. The ultimate responsibility for hazing lies with the academic institution, which informally delegates it to the official members of its supervisory staff. These supervisors informally authorise seniors to perform the hazing rite as tradition dictates. Hazing also keeps with concepts of policing as a “craft” rather than a “profession”, in the sense that much of its art is learned through the mysteries of apprenticeship rather than rational instruction.

Seniors often are third-year Carabinieri Officers School students. These seniors are part of an initiatory context that involves a change in status, in preparation for their becoming full-fledged Officers. Hazing rehearses the Carabinieri officer's style of severe leadership better than the official curriculum. The organisation and the conduct of the hazing is also an important test for seniors. In order to avoid excesses, Officers (mainly instructors) are at hand. Hazing simulates the art of leadership; seniors work side‐by‐side with officers, confirming that their learning cycle is coming to an end.

Hazing at the Military Academy begins with the noisy predawn awakening of the freshman class in their dorms. The senior cadets swarm into the dormitory and drag the freshmen from their bunks, while strongly impressing them with the penitential nature of hazing. Amid the confusion, the senior cadets fire blanks in the dorm and blow strident whistles in the ears of their sleepy victims, roughly shaking their hands and feet, screaming like maniacs and sending out dozens of contradictory expletive‐laden messages about making and unmaking their beds, standing up and crawling at the same time and other orders that make the new recruits' heads swim.
The hazing lasts six days, during which time the seniors are the agents of a number of practices such as painful pranks and humorous activities where freshmen humiliate themselves. These sadistic activities serve to strengthen the bonds between freshmen and seniors. The freshmen undergo the hazing period while enduring jokes, pranks, skits and embarrassment. Within the pedagogy of extremes, the seniors overturn order and sense by dressing up and militantly imposing disorder, pranks, psychological pressure and brutality amid howls of laughter and the violent expression of basic impulses. Although forms of hazing use playful means of ridiculing sexuality, hazing at the Military Academy cannot include overt references to it. This is a taboo at military institutions.

The hazing ritual includes a vocabulary of derogatory words and verbs, founded in the senior and new recruits' discourse, that are perfectly understood by the leadership team. Throught sexist, racist and homophobic terminology and the ridiculing of freshmen the association between masculinity, manliness and stoicism and submission to the group code is enforced.
Widespread humiliation aims to make the Cadets to a common starting point, where class and other marks of status are irrelevant. Therefore agents of the rite do not recognise important surnames, money or social prestige. The freshman's previous life is dead and it is unwise to demand special treatment due to their prior status.

As many rites of status elevation, Royal Carabinieri hazing marks the boundary people cross when going from one realm to another, from the civilian/no‐status world to the world of the Royal Carabinieri. This procedure is similar to those carried out by the M.V.S.N.. The passage must be marked. To do so, they must be emptied and stripped of their previous identity. The encounter phase involves separation, liminarity and integration of freshmen. Their former repertoires are useless to them at this stage. The loss of familiar points of reference plunges them into a watershed in the lives of many.
As in Carabinieri training, hazing is part of a counter‐curriculum that is as efficient as official teaching methods in transmitting the values and attitudes of the Carabinieri, filling gaps and putting the Carabinieri's stamp on training. Like the stress training methods characteristic of traditional Carabinieri training, hazing instills in recruits a militaristic sense of what it is to be a Carabinieri officer, including abuse of rank, breaking and silencing others.

Requisites for promotion

Promotions in rank are, beyond the rank of Lieutenant, mostly discretionary. Nonetheless, in order to achieve certain ranks, Carabinieri officers must also achieve some education degrees.

Education level required	Special Technical role	Technical role	Forestal role		Special role		Normal role
Major	Advanced technical course		Joint Higher Institute of Public Security					Army War School
Lieutenant	Civilian degree + 1 year-long Officers training	Civilian degree + 1 year-long Officers training	Civilian degree + 1 year-long Officers training		1 year-long Officers training		Carabinieri Officer School
Second Lieutenant							Army Military Academy

Uniforms

Paratrooper Carabinieri Officers in Parade Winter Service Uniform (Uniforme di Servizio Invernale 3, S.I. 3) presenting the Flag.

The Carabinieri have a variety of uniforms. During the performance of the service and in military sites or otherwise destined to the service are required to wear the uniform, unless otherwise provided.

Civilian clothing

The General Regulations of the Carabinieri gives the Officers the right to wear civilian clothes when they consider it necessary to gather information or to make confidential or delicate inquiries. The Company or Lieutenancy Commanders may authorize the dependent personnel, as individuals and when the wearing of uniform can be a hindrance to the success of the service, to wear civilian clothes only for the time necessary for the conduct of the service.
Personnel authorized to wear civilian clothes in non-operational services, in choice of apparel and accessories must comply with aesthetic criteria of sobriety, dignity and elegance. Male personnel can wear a classic cut day dress consisting of jacket and pants, one colour (preferably dark blue or dark gray), always with a tie. Female personnel can wear a classic cut suit consists of jacket and skirt or pants, one colour (preferably dark blue or dark gray).
Civilian clothes worn off duty must always be dignified and sober and have no distinctive or characteristic uniform accessories. Military personnel in active service are permitted to wear the uniform off duty in non-military sites. Student Carabinieri cannot wear civilian clothes off duty.

Headgear

All Carabinieri personnel may wear the black rigid cap, regardless any distinction of rank or position. The black rigid cap consists of rod, curtainsider, visor, chinstrap, leather inner band, ribbed band (for the troops), black with scarlet thread at the edges, cover with silver buttons and reproducing the Carabinieri flame.
While all Carabinieri personnel wear the black rigid cap, some units and formations are entitled to wear also alternative headgears, mostly berets:

• Maroon beret: Paratrooper Carabinieri and Counter-guerilla Battalions;
• Black beret: Carabinieri Cavalry Squadrons Group and 1st Carabinieri Mobile Brigade;
• Green beret: Forest environmental and food protection Units Division.

Winter Ordinary uniform

When provided the use of the Winter Ordinary Uniform (Uniforme Ordinaria Invernale, O.I.), Officers wear a black rigid cap with damask band and red profiling, a black jacket, black trousers, a white shirt with pockets and shoulder boards, a fiber polyamide strap with red profiling, black tie, waterproof coat, black stockings, black gloves and black flat shoes. The gun is carried under the brim of the jacket. The Winter Ordinary Uniform is expected to be worn on service within the military facilities, outside, to direct the various institutional services or to carry out inspections and control and out of service.
The Officers' Great Winter Uniform (Grande Uniforme Invernale, G.U.I.) is the Winter Ordinary Uniform with some modifications. It differs from Winter Ordinary Uniform for adding red scarf and decorations (metal signs, plaques and groups) and sabre with pendants and lanyard (without pistol).

• 

  The Winter Ordinary Uniform is the most iconic uniform of the Royal Carabinieri.

• 

  The Winter Ordinary Uniform for Subofficers differs from the Troops uniform for the lack of the white bandolier. Instead, a black Sam Browne Belt is worn.

Summer Ordinary uniform

The Officers Summer Ordinary Uniform (Uniforme Ordinaria Estiva, O.E.) consists of black rigid cap, black jacket, blacks trousers, white shirt with pockets and shoulder boards, black tie, black socks, black flat shoes and black waterproof coat. The handgun is carried under the brim of the jacket. The Summer Ordinary Uniform is expected to be worn on service within the military facilities, outside, to direct the various institutional services or to carry out inspections and control and out of service.
The Officers' Great Summer Uniform (Grande Uniforme Estiva, G.U.E.) is the Summer Ordinary Uniform with some modifications. It differs from Summer Ordinary Uniform for adding red scarf and decorations (metal signs, plaques and groups) and sabre with pendants and lanyard (without pistol).

Winter Service Uniform

The Winter Service Uniform (Uniforme di Servizio Invernale, S.I.), for Officers, consists of black rigid cap with damask band and red profiling, black jacket and pants, white shirt with pockets and shoulder boards, black tie, black socks, black windbreaker (for units that use them), black flat shoes and black belt with shoulder strap and black holster. The belt is not worn when the Officer directs the various institutional services, or carry out inspections and control.
The Operational Winter Service Uniform (Uniforme di Servizio Invernale 2, S.I. 2) differs from uniform of winter service for adding a dark blue sweater inverted neck, jacket, black belt with shoulder and ankle holster and combat boots if necessary. This uniform is worn under the command of military employees in the services for which it is expected the same uniform (Public Order Services, search parties, roundups). Special versions are available. With regard the Officers frequently called to direct Public Order related services related to events on snow and ice, in locations with winter climates, the uniform consists of winter baseball cap, blue sweater inverted neck, windbreaker with heavy internal lining, snow boots, low-temperature gloves and blue balaclava.
The Parade Winter Service Uniform (Uniforme di Servizio Invernale 3, S.I. 3) differs from Winter Service Uniform for adding a black belt with no shoulder holster with double stripe pants, jackboots, red scarf, decorations and white gloves and sabre with pendants and lanyard instead of the gun. Officers who parade in Parade Winter Service Uniform on wheeled vehicles are with guns instead of sabre with black belt, shoulder strap and holster black; Officers who in parade in Speciality Uniform, Camouflage Uniform or Public Order Uniform are with guns instead of sabre with with polyamide fiber belt and holster.

Summer Service Uniform

The Officers Summer Service Uniform (Uniforme di Servizio Estiva, S.E.) consists of black rigid cap, blue short-sleeved shirt, blacks trousers, black socks, black flat shoes, black shoulder belt with a black holster. This uniform is rarely worn by officers, only in most hot climates.

Winter Ceremony Uniform

The Officers' Winter Ceremony Uniform (Uniforme da Cerimonia Invernale, Ce.I.) consists of black rigid cap with damask band and red profiling, black double-breasted jacket with six buttons and trousers of the same fabric and colour, white shirt with the collar upturned limp, black silk long tie, small ribbons, long black stockings and black flat shoes, white leather gloves, cloak of black cloth.
The Winter Evening Uniform (Uniforme da Sera Invernale, Se.I.) differs for the black bow tie; the Winter Mess Dress Uniform (Uniforme da Società invernale, So.I.) consists of the Winter Ceremony Uniform with white dicky shirt, white collar with upturned tips, black silk bow tie, reduced decorations. With the addition of the red scarf, the Winter Mess Dress Uniform becomes the Winter Gala Uniform (Uniforme da gala invernale, Ga.I.)
The Great Winter Ceremony Uniform (Grande Uniforme da Cerimonia Invernale, G.U.Ce.I.) differs from Winter Ceremony Uniform for the addition of reduced decorations, the sabre with pendants and lanyard and red scarf.

Operational Uniform

The Officers' Blue Operational Uniform (Uniforme Operativa in tessuto turchino, Op.t.) consists of blue beret, blue polar fleece complete, thermal undersuit, blue t-shirt with the Carabinieri arms, blue neckerchief with red edging, blue fabric uniform with red profiling, black strap with red profiling, black leather gloves, black sponge stockings and black combat boots. The uniform is completed by the polyamide fiber belt with cassetted holster, handcuff case, magazine loader and gun. With the windbreaker, the belt is worn over it. The use of the Uniform for Officers is provided in training, in search parties and roundups, in the various services within the barracks for which there is no provision for ordinary or service uniforms, in services carried out by K-9 squads, with addition of knee-high rubber boots in case of waterlogged ground and in the activities of the special units. With the addition of riot helmet, riot shield and personal protection, the Blue Operational Uniform is used for public order services.
The Camouflage Operational Uniform consists of maroon beret, green skullcap, polychromatic baseball cap, polychromatic jump uniform, polychromatic jungle cap, polychromatic balaclava, polychromatic net scarf, olive green operational bodice, green fleece suit, polychromatic windbreaker with polychromatic laminate fabric chaps, blue inverted neck sweater, olive green shirt, black swat gloves, black leather gloves with reinforced palm, polychromatic gloves for low temperatures, black combat boots, black jump boots, bayonet and dagger. Accessories include the helmet, when expressly provided, commando vest/eagle tac vest and green belt with pistol holster quick release, handcuffs case, magazine loader, spring lace. This is the Officers' uniform for Counter-Guerilla units but also for wartime missions.

Symbolism of the Royal Carabinieri

Royal Carabinieri’s reputation is underscored visually by the corps' iconic emblem, a Flaming Grenade. Set against a black background and matched by an outer red rim, the Grenade symbolises the lineage with Grenadiers. The frequent use of a skull and dagger represents “victory over death” in combat, one the Royal Carabinieri’s defining mottos. The dagger itself symbolises courage and bravery. According to Fascist traditions, the black stands for “permanent fight”, while the red motive symbolises the “blood shed in combat”.

Rank insignia

Royal Carabinieri Special Ranks insignia
Special rank	Comandante Generale dell'Arma dei Carabinieri Reali	Generale Ispettore dei Corpi Militari di Polizia
English translation	Commandant-General of the Royal Carabinieri	General-Inspector of the Militarized Police Corps
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Generale di Corpo d'Armata con Incarichi Speciali	Generale d'Armata
Corresponding Army rank (UK)	Lieutenant General	General
Shoulder board insignia
Cap chin strap

Carabinieri Officers ranks and insignia
Carabinieri rank	Sottotenente	Tenente	Capitano	Maggiore	Tenente Colonnello	Colonnello	Generale di Brigata	Generale di Divisione	Generale di Corpo d'Armata
English translation	Under Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Brigadier General	Major General	Lieutenant General
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Sottotenente	Tenente	Capitano	Maggiore	Tenente Colonnello	Colonnello	Generale di Brigata	Generale di Divisione	Generale di Corpo d'Armata
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Second Lieutenant	Lieutenant	Captain	Major	Lieutenant Colonel	Colonel	Brigadier	Major General	Lieutenant General
Shoulder board insignia
Cap chin strap

Carabinieri Subofficers ranks and insignia
Carabinieri rank	Maresciallo	Maresciallo Capo	Maresciallo Maggiore
English translation	Marshal	Chief Marshal	Marshal Major
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Maresciallo	Maresciallo Capo	Maresciallo Maggiore
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Warrant Officer Class Two	Warrant Officer Second Class	Warrant Officer First Class
Shoulder board insignia
Cap chin strap

Carabinieri Enlisted ranks and insignia
Carabinieri rank	Carabiniere	Carabiniere Scelto	Appuntato	Appuntato Capo	Vicebrigadiere	Brigadiere
English translation	Carabineeer	Carabineer First Class	Appointee	Chief Appointee	Deputy Sergeant	Sergeant
Corresponding Army rank (Italian)	Soldato	Caporale	Caporale maggiore	Caporale Capo	Sergente	Sergente Maggiore
Corresponding Army rank (British)	Private	Lance Corporal	Corporal	Sergeant	Staff Sergeant	Staff Sergeant (senior echelon)
Sleeve insignia	No insignia
Shoulder board insignia
Cap chin strap

Ground vehicles

Royal Carabinieri use a vaiety of vehicles for the fullfilment of their duties.

• VIC Freccia infantry fighting vehicle (Special Public Security Command);
• VCC Puma 4×4 armoured fighting vehicle (Mobile Units Division; Special Public Security Command);
• REGIO-12 multi-purpose armoured personnel carrier (Mobile Units Division);
• VTLM Lince multirole light vehicle (General use);
• ACTL Iveco SM44 Heavy Truck 8x8 (General use);
• ACTL Iveco SM44 Heavy Truck 6x6 (General use);
• ACTL Iveco SM44 Light Truck 4x4 (General use);
• Iveco VM 90 multirole light vehicle (Mobile Units Division; Military Police Command);
• De Tomasi Scirocco AR90 4x4 patrol car (General use);
• Fiat Panda 4x4 patrol car (General use);
• Fiat Punto patrol car (General use);
• Alfa Romeo Giulietta patrol car (General use);
• Alfa Romeo Giulia patrol car (General use).

See also

• Administration of Public Security (Italy)
• Law enforcement in the Italian Empire
• Law enforcement in the Kingdom of Italy
• Royal Police Corps (Kingdom of Italy)