Italian Army
Italian Army
Coat of Arms of the Italian Army; the text in
Latin reads: The safeguard of the republic shall
be the supreme law.
Active
27 March, 1861 - today
Country
Italy
Allegiance
Italian Republic
Type
army
Size
109,703
Part of
Italian Supreme
Defense Council
Garrison/HQ
Rome
Motto
Salus Rei Publicae
Suprema Lex Esto
Engagements
Risorgimento
War of 1866
First Italo-Abyssinian
War
Italo-Turkish War
World War I
Second Italo-
Abyssinian War
Spanish Civil War
Italian invasion of
Albania
World War II
Iraq War
War in Afghanistan
War on Terrorism
Commanders
President of the
Italian Republic
Giorgio Napolitano
Stato Maggiore
dell’Esercito
(Chief of the Army
General Staff)
Generale Fabrizio
Castagnetti
Notable
commanders
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Armando Diaz
Luigi Cadorna
Emanuele Filiberto,
2nd Duke of Aosta
Enrico Caviglia
Ettore Bastico
Emilio De Bono
Ugo Cavallero
Pietro Badoglio
Rodolfo Graziani
Giovanni Messe
Dardo IFV on exercise in Capo Teulada
Soldiers of the 33rd Field Artillery Regiment
"Acqui" on parade
The Italian Army (Esercito Italiano) is the
ground defence force of the Italian Republic.
It has recently become a professional all-vo-
lunteer force of active-duty personnel, num-
bering 109,703 in 2008[1]. Its best-known
combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Italian Army
1
fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer
and the Ariete tank, and among its aircraft
the Mangusta attack helicopter, recently de-
ployed in UN missions. The Esercito Italiano
also has at its disposal a large number of
Leopard 1 and M113 armored vehicles. The
headquarters of the Army General Staff are
located in Rome, opposite the Presidential
Palace.
History
The Italian Army originated as the Royal
Army (Regio Esercito) which dates from the
proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy follow-
ing the seizure of the Papal States and the
unification of Italy (Risorgimento). In 1861,
under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi,
Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy
was invited to take the throne