3ª Brigata missili “Aquileia”
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3rd Aquileia Missile Brigade |
|
|---|---|
 Association badge |
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| active | October 1959 to December 1991 |
| Country |
 Italy
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| Armed forces | Italian armed forces |
| Armed forces |
.svg){kind=small} army
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| Branch of service | artillery |
| Type | Rocket artillery, heavy field artillery |
| Subordinate troops |
3 to 6 artillery battalions, |
| Strength | 5,478 men (as of 1975) |
| Insinuation | V. Corps |
| Seat of the staff | Vicenza (until 1975) , Portogruaro |
The 3ª Brigata missili “Aquileia” ( German 3rd Missile Brigade Aquileia ) was an artillery unit of the Italian Army , which existed from 1959 to 1991 in northeast Italy . The brigade was equipped with short-range missiles of the type MGR-1 Honest John and MGM-52 Lance as well as heavy howitzers . In the context of nuclear participation , this major unit concentrated Italian army units that were supposed to use nuclear weapons if necessary in the East-West conflict .
history
background
In the early 1950s, NATO decided to introduce tactical nuclear weapons. These weapons were intended to strengthen the defenses of conventional NATO forces in Europe, which were far superior to those of the Warsaw Pact .
In 1954, the governments of Italy and the United States signed a bilateral military agreement that allowed the United States to use various military facilities in Italy. In the following year, the US occupation forces withdrew from Austria , mainly via Italy, where initially 10,000 men were taken over by the US Army's Southern European Task Force (SETAF), which was set up in October 1955 . The SETAF formed, among other things, two artillery battalions that were equipped with tactical nuclear weapons. On the basis of two further agreements (Program of Cooperation and Nuclear Stockpile Agreement) , the SETAF was downsized, some of its equipment was given to Italy and cooperation in the storage and use of tactical nuclear weapons was established.
From the formation to the army reform of 1975
On January 10, 1959, 44 Italian soldiers of the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment began their training on the Honest John weapon system at SETAF in Vicenza . Shortly thereafter, the re-equipment of their regiment began , which initially formed two battalions ( divisions ) on Honest John . On October 1, 1959, the III. Missile brigade, which was subordinate to the 5th Corps in Vittorio Veneto on service in peacetime, while in the war it was to be led directly by the NATO Landsouth command in Verona . The core of the brigade was the 3rd rocket artillery regiment, to whose numbering the brigade also referred. The new brigade also received various support units. About ten years after it was set up, the brigade comprised:
- Staff in Vicenza
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3rd Missile Artillery Regiment in Portogruaro with four battalions on Honest John
- XIII. Reconnaissance battalion in Montorio Veronese, Verona
- XIV. Heavy artillery battalion in Trento (later Elvas) on M115
- XV. heavy artillery battalion in Verona on M115
- XXI. Engineer Battalion in Vicenza
- XIII. Telecommunications Battalion in Portogruaro
- XIII. Logistics battalion in Vicenza
- Four security companies in Codognè, Portogruaro, Oderzo and Elvas
The artillery units of the brigade were deployed on the main incursion axes of northeast Italy. These were in particular the Puster Valley , the Adige Valley , the upper Piave Valley , the Canal Valley and the so-called Gorizia Gap in Görz and the plains to the west of it up to the lower reaches of the Piave. The brigade was tasked with covering these valleys and areas with nuclear fire if necessary. They saw themselves particularly threatened by ten division equivalents stationed in Hungary , which were to attack northern Italy from the Kaposvár area either via south-east Austria or via north Yugoslavia .
From 1975 until the dissolution
With the army reform of 1975 the regimental level was almost completely abolished in Italy. The battalions were thus directly subordinate to the brigades. In the course of the reform, the III. Missile Brigade the new name 3rd Missile Brigade Aquileia, whereby the nickname referred to the Roman city of Aquileia . The subordinate associations were also renamed:
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Brigade headquarters in Portogruaro -
3rd Volturno rocket artillery battalion in Oderzo and Codognè on Lance
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1st heavy artillery battalion Adige in Elvas near Brixen on M115 (until 1983) -
9th heavy artillery battalion Rovigo in Verona on M115 (until 1986) -
27th heavy artillery battalion Marche in Udine on M107 , then M110A2 (from 1977) -
41st Cordenon's Artillery Support Battalion in Casarsa della Delizia (until 1986) -
13th Reconnaissance Battalion Aquileia in Verona -
21st Timavo Engineer Battalion in Vicenza (until 1979, then company) -
13th Mauria Telecommunications Battalion in Portogruaro -
13th Aquileia Logistics Battalion in Portogruaro -
92nd Basilicata Training Battalion in Portogruaro (from 1981 in Foligno ) -
Aquileia Carabinieri Company in Portogruaro -
Four security companies in Codognè, Portogruaro (76 to 83 in Vicenza), Oderzo and Udine (up to 83 in Elvas)
In the course of the army reform, the Honest John were decommissioned and replaced by Lance . The latter received only the 3rd rocket artillery battalion, while the remaining battalions kept the howitzers. The term "rocket brigade" thus referred even more to the core of the brigade, because in fact it was essentially a mixed heavy artillery brigade. At that time, the brigade had around 5,500 soldiers, by the end of the 1980s only around 3,000 soldiers. Until 1991 there were various changes in the subordinate battalions, which are briefly described below. The brigade was officially dissolved on December 1, 1991, but de facto initially downsized by combining parts of the various battalions in the 3rd Artillery Regiment Aquileia . The association existed in this form until September 1992.
Description of selected brigade parts
The heavy artillery units of the brigade were directly subordinate to the commanders of individual armies or corps until 1943 (army artillery, corps troops ). The only exception is the 27th regiment / battalion, which was originally a field or divisional artillery unit.
3rd Volturno Missile Artillery Battalion
The history of this association goes back to Giuseppe Garibaldi's red shirts and the battle of the Volturno in 1860 . From the artillery units that had taken part in the battle, the 3rd Artillery Regiment emerged in 1860, which existed as such until 1870 and then, after a reorganization of the troops , went to the field artillery. In 1910, the 8th Fortress Artillery Regiment was established in Bologna , which was renamed the 6th Heavy Artillery Regiment in 1920, the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment in 1926 and the 3rd Army Artillery Regiment in 1934. It was dissolved in September 1943 in the wake of the Cassibile armistice .
At the end of 1955 it was re-established as the 3rd heavy artillery regiment with three battalions (divisions) in Brescia . 1959 gave up its 155mm and 203mm howitzers and introduced the Honest John missiles at its new Vicenza location. The first test shooting took place in 1959 near Bibione on the Adriatic Sea, the other exercises then on the plateau of the Seven Municipalities or in Salto di Quirra on Sardinia . Four missile battalions were active on Honest John until the early 1970s . The regimental headquarters had been in Portogruaro since 1963 .
In 1974, soldiers of the 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment at the US Artillery School in Fort Sill took a course that prepared them for the new Lance weapon system . Towards the end of the year, they conducted the first test shooting at the White Sands Missile Range . The following year the first Lance were delivered to Italy. The 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment was demoted to the 3rd Volturno Missile Artillery Battalion on January 1, 1975 . It consisted of a stick and supply battery , three firing batteries and a fire control battery . The battalion with its new location in Oderzo had around 100 Lance missiles in its inventory and used special versions of the M113 armored transport vehicle , the M752 launch vehicle and the M688 loading vehicle.
After the end of the Cold War, the brigade's nuclear warheads were handed over to the 59th Ordnance Brigade in Germany in 1992 , and the Lance missiles went to Camp Darby near Livorno. On September 28, 1992, the rocket artillery battalion was renamed the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment Volturno (battalion strength) and equipped with the MLRS multiple rocket launcher as part of a further reform, mainly for reasons of tradition . On December 1, 2001, the name was changed to the 5th Heavy Artillery Regiment Superga . It still exists in this form in Portogruaro as part of the Army's support command.
1st heavy artillery battalion Adige
This battalion was created on September 1, 1962 in Trient under the designation XIV. Heavy artillery battalion through the spin-off and independence of the III. Battalion of the 9th Heavy Artillery Regiment. Shortly afterwards it came to Elvas near Brixen . In the course of the army reform of 1975 it was given the new designation 1st heavy artillery battalion Adige . In 1983 it was rostered and moved to Verona. The battalion was equipped with M115 howitzers. Exercises with a sharp shot were carried out on the central Italian military training area near Monte Romano , otherwise in the upper Piave Valley and also in Carnia .
9th Rovigo Heavy Artillery Battalion
This association was founded in 1959 in Brescia under the name XV. heavy artillery battalion due to the outsourcing of the III. Battalion of the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment mentioned above. In 1968 it came to Verona with its M115, where it remained until it was dissolved. In the course of the army reform of 1975 it was renamed the 9th Heavy Artillery Battalion Rovigo and thus took over the traditions of the 9th Heavy Artillery Regiment. It lost its nuclear role in 1986 when it left the missile brigade along with the 41st Artillery Support Battalion and was placed under the Artillery Command of the V Corps. From late 1991 to mid-1992 it was under the aforementioned 3rd Artillery Regiment Aquileia (the downsized brigade). Afterwards it was part of the corps troops of the IV Mountain Corps in Bolzano as the 9th Rovigo heavy artillery regiment (battalion strength) until its dissolution in 1995 . Exercises with a sharp shot were also carried out in this case near Monte Romano, otherwise on the rivers Brenta , Torre and Fella .
27th Marche Heavy Artillery Battalion
In 1912 the 27th Field Artillery Regiment was set up in Milan , which in 1934 was named the 27th Legnano Division Artillery Regiment . After the war-related dissolution in 1943, it was re-established in 1947, from 1948 under the name of the 27th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment Legnano . As such, it was disbanded in April 1964. At the same time in Udine the 155th Artillery Regiment with its M107 self-propelled guns was renamed the 27th Heavy Field Artillery Regiment. In 1977 it became part of the 3rd Aquileia Missile Brigade . In 1985, after being demoted to battalion, it received 18 M110s for its three firing batteries . The battalion was renamed regiment again in 1992 and disbanded in Udine in 1995.
13th Reconnaissance Battalion Aquileia
On October 1, 1959, a special paratrooper reconnaissance platoon was formed within the brigade, which was intended to detect and determine targets behind enemy lines for rocket artillery and heavy field artillery, to direct its own fire and determine its effect. From this train , which was set up in Vicenza, first a company and then the 13th Artillery Reconnaissance Battalion emerged the following year , which moved to Verona in 1963. From October 1st, 1975 the association called itself 13º Gruppo Acquisizione Obiettivi "Aquileia", 13º GRACO for short or just GRACO.
GRACO consisted of a staff and supply battery , a remote surveillance battery , a drone battery and an Army Aviation Unit . The remote scouts formed a special unit and wore burgundy berets ; the Army Aviators were blue, otherwise they were black. Drones have been in use since 1964, initially the American MQM-57B Falconer , later the Canadair CL-89 and the Italian Mirach 150 .
The battalion had had assigned army aviation units since 1962, which were stationed at the Verona-Boscomantico airfield . A relay was with wing aircraft of the type L-21B , O-1E and SM.1019 equipped with two other helicopters of the type AB 47G and from 204 . Over time, the older planes were retired and more modern helicopters were introduced.
GRACO came to the artillery command of the V Corps in 1992 and was then disbanded in its previous form on September 30, 1993. The drone battery came to the 41st Artillery Support Battalion of the V Corps, the army aviators also went to other units. The Fernspäher took over most of the paratroopers brigade Folgore , the one in 2000 Fernspähbataillon set up whose operating units still the old GRACO motto videre nec videri use ( "see without being seen"). As a direct successor of the GRACO 2005 established 13 reconnaissance battalion applies Aquileia the ISTAR - commands in Anzio .
Special ammunition depot
The 3rd Missile Brigade basically had a conventional and nuclear dual role. The use of nuclear weapons required US approval and support. Nuclear warheads, nuclear artillery shells and nuclear mines were kept by units of the 559th US Army Artillery Group of SETAF in special ammunition sites , which were located near the Italian task forces. The four security companies of the 3rd Missile Brigade were intended to protect the outer restricted areas of the camps. The SETAF units for their part cooperated in the field with the Italian artillery units. Below is a list of the special ammunition depots of the 3rd Missile Brigade.
Site Pluto
Site Pluto was located in a karst cave system near Longare , about ten kilometers southeast of Vicenza. Together with another ammunition store in neighboring Tormeno (Site River) and a base in San Rocco di Longare, it formed the central depot of SETAF. The 28th Field Artillery Detachment and the 69th Ordnance Company were stationed in Longare, the 22nd Field Artillery Detachment and the 19th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Detachment in Tormeno . To defend the camp against air raids, the Italian army stationed a battery of the 5th anti- aircraft regiment equipped with MIM-23 HAWK anti-aircraft missiles in San Rocco di Longare . The brigade's Carabinieri company also provided security. Site Pluto opened in 1955. Nuclear warheads, projectiles and mines for SETAF artillery units and for the Italian 3rd Missile Brigade and its 9th Rovigo heavy artillery regiment were stored here, as well as nuclear warheads for the Nike-Hercules anti-aircraft missiles of the Italian 1st Brigata Aerea . Towards the end of the Cold War , most of the special ammunition was concentrated here in northeast Italy and then withdrawn in 1992 as part of Operation Silent Echo . The facilities in Longare and Tormeno are now used as ammunition depots and training facilities for the 173rd US Airborne Brigade stationed in Vicenza and as a communications center.
Coordinates: 45 ° 28 ′ 49 ″ N , 11 ° 36 ′ 2 ″ E
Site Aldebaran
This ammunition depot, opened in 1967, was located in Chiarano ( TV ). Until the mid-1970s, the 12th Field Artillery Detachment kept the nuclear warheads for the III, equipped with Honest John , here. Battalion of the 3rd rocket artillery regiment in Oderzo , then the warheads for the lance of the 1st battery / 3rd. Volturno Missile Artillery Battalion . The 3rd Security Company of the Aquileia Brigade took over the external security of the camp .
Coordinates: 45 ° 44 ′ 35 " N , 12 ° 35 ′ 39" E
Site Algol
Site Algol was in Palù near Orsago ( TV ). First the 29th Field Artillery Detachment took care of the warheads for the Honest John of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment in Codognè , then a team of the 12th Field Artillery Detachment took care of the warheads for the lance of the 2nd and 3rd batteries of the 3rd Volturno Missile Artillery Battalion . The special ammunition was only withdrawn here in 1992. The Italian 1st Security Company took over the external security.
Coordinates: 45 ° 54 ′ 38 ″ N , 12 ° 28 ′ 2 ″ E
Site Castor
This warehouse, opened in 1967, was located in Alvisopoli near Fossalta di Portogruaro ( VE ). Here the 28th Field Artillery Detachment supported the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Missile Artillery Regiment in Portogruaro, equipped with Honest John . After its closure, no more special ammunition was stored here and the depot was completely abandoned in 1987. The second security company came to Vicenza in 1976 and to Portogruaro in 1983.
Coordinates: 45 ° 48 ′ 42 ″ N , 12 ° 55 ′ 0 ″ E
Site Rigel
Site Rigel in Natz-Schabs near Brixen in South Tyrol was also put into service in 1967. This is where the 11th Field Artillery Detachment kept the warheads for the Honest John of the IV Battalion of the 3rd Rocket Artillery Regiment, after which the 203 mm atomic projectiles for the 1st heavy artillery battalion Adige in Elvas near Brixen until its cadre and Relocation in 1983. Both the US unit and the Italian 4th Security Company then relocated to San Bernardo and Udine.
Coordinates: 46 ° 45 ′ 35 " N , 11 ° 40 ′ 31" E
San Bernardo
After the 27th heavy artillery battalion Marche stationed in Udine had taken on a second, atomic role, the corresponding projectiles had to be stored nearby. Although known as an ammunition depot, San Bernardo near Reana del Rojale neither had the facilities of a special weapons store nor an appropriate code name. The exact location of the nuclear projectiles is not known. In 1983, the 11th Field Artillery Detachment and the 4th Security Company of the Aquileia Brigade were stationed in Udine .
Coordinates: 46 ° 6 ′ 48 ″ N , 13 ° 15 ′ 35 ″ E
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Despite NATO membership, this was necessary for the stationing of US units, as Italy had signed a peace treaty in 1947 and then withdrew all Allied occupation troops. An agreement from 1951 allowed the supply of US troops in Austria via the port city of Livorno , where the US depot Camp Darby was built.
- ↑ See also: State Treaty of Vienna SETAF on globalsecurity.org.
- ↑ In addition to nuclear warheads for short-range missiles and atomic projectiles for howitzers, this also affected a smaller number of atomic mines and atomic warheads for anti-aircraft missiles of the 1ata Brigata Aerea and the atomic bombs for squadrons of the Italian air force in Ghedi , Rimini and Gioia del Colle .
- ↑ In the Italian artillery the term battalion (as it used to be in Germany) is replaced by department. The Italian term in this case is gruppo ( gruppo squadroni for cavalry and army aviators). For the sake of simplicity, it stays with Bataillon.
- ↑ The Italian field army in northern Italy consisted of the III. Corps in Milan , the IV. (Mountain) Corps in Bolzano and the V Corps in Vittorio Veneto . In the event of a war with the Warsaw Pact states, the Landsouth NATO command in Verona should take over the command of the three corps. Landsouth had a four-star Italian general and a multinational staff in command. In addition to Landsouth , there was a purely national command until 1975 ( Treaty of Osimo ), that of the 3rd Army in Padua , which could lead the three Italian corps in national direction, especially in the event of a possible armed conflict with Yugoslavia . The numbering of the 3rd Missile Brigade (as conventional army artillery) also implicitly referred to the 3rd Army.
- ^ István Balló: The Hungarian People's Army in the Warsaw Pact. on www.bmlv.gv.at (PDF; 104 kB).
- ↑ La bomba atomica su Vienna e Venezia, La Repubblica, May 14, 2005
- ↑ Some other artillery units of the army could also seal atomic projectiles, especially those units that were equipped with the field howitzer FH155-1 . However, for procedural reasons, attempts were made to concentrate the use of nuclear projectiles in the missile brigade.
- ↑ The unit had the Italian name Batteria Acquisizione Obiettivi (BAO). The German translation "Fernspähbatterie" seems appropriate because the soldiers of the BAO were trained at the International Fernspähschule in Pfullendorf , Germany. Basically they belonged to the observing artillery .
- ^ Giovanni Bernardi: La misteriosa morte del GRACO. www.paginedidifesa.it, September 30, 2003 ( Memento of May 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ History of the 13th Battalion Aquileia on www.esercito.difesa.it ( Memento of July 4th 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ 559th US Army Artillery Group at www.usarmygermany.com
- ↑ Details on www.zone-interdite.net
- ^ Also in the case of the 1ª Brigata Aerea a central depot. There were other camps right next to the various Nike positions.
Web links
- Army Artillery Command, History (Italian)