3rd Engineer Regiment (Italy)

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3rd Engineer Regiment
3° Reggimento Genio Guastatori
CoA mil ITA rgt genio 03.png
Regimental coat of arms
Active1 November 1926 - 8 September 1943
1 April 1954 - 31 dicembre 1975
1 September 1992 - today[1]
Country Italy
BranchItalian Army
RoleCombat engineers
Part ofCavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli"
Garrison/HQUdine
Motto(s)"Arresto e distruggo"
Anniversaries24 June 1918 - Second Battle of the Piave River
DecorationsValor militare silver medal BAR.svg Valor militare bronze medal BAR.svg Valor militare bronze medal BAR.svg Valor dell'esercito silver medal BAR.svg Valor dell'esercito bronze medal BAR.svg Croce al merito dell'esercito gold medal BAR.svg
1x Silver Medal of Military Valour
2x Bronze Medals of Military Valour
1x Silver Medal of Army Valour
1x Bronze Medal of Army Valour
1x Gold Cross of Army Merit[2]
Commanders
Current
commander		Col. Antonio D’Agostino
Battalion "Verbano" CommanderTen. Col. Pasquale Minopoli
Notable
commanders		Gianfranco Ottogalli
Insignia
Sappers gorget patches
Mostrina - Genio Guastatori.png
Mostrina - Genio Guastatori.png

The 3rd Engineer Sappers Regiment (Italian: 3° Reggimento Genio Guastatori) is a military engineer regiment of the Italian Army based in Udine in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Today the regiment is the engineer unit of the Cavalry Brigade "Pozzuolo del Friuli".[3]

History[]

The 3rd Combat Engineers Regiment originates from the 3rd Engineers Regiment.

3rd Engineers Regiment[]

The 3rd Engineers Regiment was established in Lodi on 1 April 1920 with the contribution of the 1st Sappers Regiment and the 3rd and 7th Telegraph Regiments. The motto of the 3rd Engineers Regiment was “Nihil Nobis Obstaculum”.[1]

The 3rd Engineers Regiment was reconstituted on 1 November 1926 by transformation of the 2nd Army Corps Engineers Group. From 1934 to 1937, the Unit performed the functions of a School Regiment.[1]

At the beginning of the Second World War, the Regiment became a mobilisation centre and constituted the 2nd Army Special Engineers Group, which operated in the North African campaign until the dissolution im May 1943, as well as numerous units of various specialties.[1]

The mobilised units of the Regiment participated in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, in the Second World War in the Battle of Greece, in North African campaign, in the Eastern Front in 1942-1943 and in the defence of Rome. The Regiment was disestablished in September 1943.[1]

3rd Combat Engineers Regiment[]

On 1 May 1951, the II (in Conegliano), III (in Latisana) and IV (in Vipiteno) Arrest Engineers Pioneers battalions were formed. Lastly, on 20 January 1954, the V Arrest Engineers Pioneers Battalion was set up in Vipiteno.[4]

On 1 April 1954, the I, II and III Battalions were reunited in the 3rd Arrest Pioneers Engineers Group, whose command was based in Conegliano; after three months, on 1 July 1954, the V Battalion was also added.[1][4][5]: 72 

On 1 April 1955 the Group was transformed into the 3rd Arrest Combat Engineers Regiment, directly under the 5th Army Corps.[5]: 123  The Regiment then moved to Zoppola[1] and was granted the present-day motto "Arresto e Distruggo".[4]

On May 31, 1964, the 5th battalion was dissolved.[4] In 1964 the 3rd Arrest Combat Engineers Regiment consisted of the XXXI Battalion (operational) and of the XXX Battalion (skeleton unit).[5]: 137 

On 1 April 1969, on the fifteenth anniversary of its establishment, the Commander of the 3rd Arrest Engineers Pioneers Regiment received the Labarum of the XXXI Combat Engineers Battalion from the hands of Paolo Caccia Dominioni, 14th Baron of Sillavengo , last Commander of the XXXI Combat Engineers Battalion.[4]

On 24 June 1972 the specialty took on the new name of "Arrest Combat Engineers" and the regiment radically changed its organisation. On 1 October 1972 the I Nattalion and the regimental command platoon were dissolved. The II and III pioneer arrest engineers battalions changed their denomination respectively to XXX and XXXI Arrest Combat Engineers Battalions. On 1 October 1972 the Regiment therefore changed its organic appearance and name, becoming the 3rd Arrest Combat Engineers Regiment on two Battalions, the XXX and XXXI Battalions. In late 1973, the new gorget patches were granted.[1][4]

As a result of the Italian Army 1975 reform, on 30 September 1975 the XXX Battalion and, on 31 December 1975, the Command of the Regiment were dissolved. On the same date the XXXI Engineers Battalion Guastatori assumed the name of the 3rd Combat Engineers Battalion "Verbano", inheriting the Flag and traditions from the dissolved 3rd Regiment.[1] In order to preserve the legacy of the Engineers Battalions of the Second World War, the Companies adopted the numbers of the Second World War battalions: 30th, 31st, and 32nd Companies.[4]

On 26 July 1976 the 3rd Combat Engineers Battalion left the "Leccis" Barracks, the cradle of the specialty, and moved to Udine, initially in the "Pio Spaccamela" Barracks and, subsequently, on 25 September 1991, in the "G.B. Berghinz” Barracks, its current headquarters.[4]

From 1 September 1992 the Battalion was once again placed in the 3rd Combat Engineers Regiment.[1]

List of commanders[]

The Regiment has had, since 1955, forty-five Commanders.[6]

Commanders of the 3rd Arrest Pioneers Engineers Regiment[]

The 3rd Arrest Pioneers Engineers Regiment (1955-1972) had thirteeen Commanders:[6]

  • Col. Ugo Di Fabio 4 December 1955 - 10 January 1956
  • Col. Domenico Pizzutilo 11 January 1956 - 20 January 1957
  • Col. Giuseppe Cappuccio 21 January 1957 - 20 January 1958
  • Col. Paolo Montù 21 January 1958 - 10 February 1959
  • Col. Giuseppe Pirrone 11 February 1959 - 29 February 1960
  • Col. Arnaldo Giacalone 1 March 1960 - 31 August 1961
  • Col. Giuliano Pontani 1 September 1961 - 28 February 1963
  • Col. Pietro Damiani 1 March 1963 - 19 August 1964
  • Col. Fausto Felcini 20 August 1964 - 30 April 1966
  • Col. Guido Viel 1 May 1966 - 30 December 1967
  • Col. Giulio Malvani 31 December 1967 - 18 September 1970
  • Col. Filippo Boari 19 September 1970 - 19 March 1972
  • Col. Salvatore De Nigris 20 March 1972 - 23 June 1972

Commanders of the 3rd Arrest Combat Engineers Regiment[]

The 3rd Arrest Combat Engineers Regiment (1972-1975) had two Commanders:[6]

  • Col. Salvatore De Nigris 24 June 1972 - 3 August 1973
  • Col. Giacomo Fino 01 September 1973 - 31 December 1975

Commanders of the 3rd Combat Engineers Battalion "Verbano"[]

The 3rd Combat Engineers Battalion "Verbano" (1976 - 1992) had fourteen Commanders:[6]

  • Ten. Col. Emmanuele Casola 1 January 1976- 24 August 1976
  • Ten. Col. Roberto Bardini 25 August 1976 - 29 July 1978
  • Ten. Col. Eugenio Pensa 30 July 1978 - 29 July 1979
  • Ten. Col. Roberto Renzi 30 July 1979 - 2 August 1980
  • Ten. Col. Giovannino Manzoni 3 August 1980 - 2 September 1981
  • Ten. Col. Gianfranco Ottogalli 3 September 1981 - 2 September 1982
  • Ten. Col. Rolando Gentile 3 September 1982 - 2 September 1983
  • Ten. Col. Umberto Rossi 3 September 1983 - 2 September 1984
  • Ten. Col. Alberto Ceprini 3 September 1984 - 1 September 1985
  • Ten. Col. Danilo Neri 12 September 1985 - 11 September 1986
  • Ten. Col. Benito Amici 12 September 1986 - 18 August 1988
  • Ten. Col. Elio Mastrorosato 19 August 1988 - 4 October 1989
  • Ten. Col. Giuseppe Andriella 5 October 1989 - 18 October 1990
  • Ten. Col. Luciano Tombini 19 October 1990 - 31 August 1992

Commanders of the 3rd Combat Engineers Regiment[]

The 3rd Combat Engineers Regiment has been led, as of 2021, by sixteen Commanders:[6]

  • Col. Benito Amici 1 September 1992 - 22 March 1993
  • Col. Francesco De Caro 23 March 1993 - 28 May 1995
  • Col. Giuseppe Andriella 29 May 1995 - 30 May 1996
  • Ten. Col. Luciano Tombini 31 May 1996 - 11 May 2000
  • Col. Giuseppe La Placa 12.05.2000 - 22 March 2003
  • Ten. Col. Luca Leonetti 23 March 2003 - 3 July 2003
  • Col. Mario Ruggiero 4 July 2003 - 11 November 2004
  • Col. Silvio Zagli 12 November 2004 - 26 November 2007
  • Col. Carmelo Covato 27 November 2007 - 8 October 2009[7]
  • Col. Mauro Prezioso 9 October 2009[7] - 21 October 2010[8]
  • Col. Michele Arcangelo Prignano 22 October 2010[8] - 9 September 2011[9]
  • Col. Francesco Maffei 10 September 2011[9] - 19 July 2013
  • Col. Domenico De Caprio 19 July 2013 - 24 September 2015[10]
  • Col. Filippo Gabriele 25 September 2015[10] - 15 September 2016[11]
  • Col. Riccardo Maria Renganeschi 16 September 2016[11] - 26 September 2019[12]
  • Col. Antonio D’Agostino 27 September 2019 - incumbent[12]

Operations[]

The 3rd Engineers Regiment was engaged in rescue operations for the 1976 Friuli earthquake, in the 1998 Campania floods, in the 1992-1998 Operation Sicilian Vespers and then entered the shift of use in all overseas operating theaters where Italian units are deployed.

Operations abroad[]

Current structure[]

3rd Engineer Regiment Dachs armored engineer vehicle

As of 2019 the 3rd Engineer Regiment consists of:[13]

  • CoA mil ITA rgt genio 03.png Regimental Command, in Udine
    • 5th Command and Logistic Support Company
    • Sappers Battalion "Verbano"
      • 8th Deployment Support Company
      • 30th Mobility Support Company
      • 31st Sappers Company
      • 32nd Sappers Company

The Command and Logistic Support Company fields the following platoons: C3 Platoon, Transport and Materiel Platoon, Medical Platoon, Commissariat Platoon, and EOD Platoon. Each of the two sapper companies fields a Command Platoon, an Advanced Combat Reconnaissance Teams Platoon, and two sapper platoons. The Deployment Support Company and Mobility Support Company field the battalion's heavy military engineering vehicles: Biber bridgelayers, Dachs armored engineer vehicles, cranes, excavators, Medium Girder Bridges etc. The sapper companies and Command and Logistic Support Company are equipped with VTLM "Lince" and VTMM "Orso" vehicles.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "3° Reggimento Genio Guastatori - La Storia". Italian Army. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  2. ^ "3° Reggimento Genio Guastatori - Il Medagliere". Italian Army. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  3. ^ "3° Reggimento Genio Guastatori". Italian Army. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "LA STORIA DEL 3° REGGIMENTO GENIO GUASTATORI". www.anget.it (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale Genieri e Trasmettitori d'Italia. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c Ales, Stefano; Viotti, Andrea (2007). Struttura, uniformi e distintivi dell'Esercito Italiano 1946-1970 (in Italian). Rome: Ufficio Storico - Stato Maggiore dell'Esercito. pp. 72, 123, 137.
  6. ^ a b c d e "I COMANDANTI DEL 3° REGGIMENTO GENIO GUASTATORI". www.anget.it (in Italian). Associazione Nazionale Genieri e Trasmettitori d'Italia. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Terzo reggimento Genio guastatori, cambio al vertice alla Berghinz - Messaggero Veneto". Il Messaggero Veneto (in Italian). 4 October 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Genio guastatori Prignano al comando succede a Prezioso - Messaggero Veneto". Archivio - Messaggero Veneto (in Italian). 23 October 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  9. ^ a b Schinko, Renato (10 September 2011). "Prignano saluta il Genio guastatori. E arriva Maffei". Il Messaggero Veneto (in Italian). Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b "NOTIZIE DALLE BRIGATE E DALLE SCUOLE". Congedati Folgore (in Italian). 26 September 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Passaggio di consegne alla guida del 3° Reggimento Guastatori". UdineToday. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  12. ^ a b Treppo, Paola (27 September 2019). "Nuova partitura di Reggimento al cambio di comandante dei Guastatori di Udine". www.telefriuli.it (in Italian). Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  13. ^ "3° Reggimento Genio Guastatori". Ministero della Difesa. Retrieved 4 December 2019.

External links[]

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