32nd Engineer Regiment (Italy)

32nd Engineer Regiment

32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori

Regimental coat of arms

Active| 24 September 2004 - today[1]
Country|  Italy
Branch| Italian Army
Role| Combat engineers
Part of| Alpine Brigade "Taurinense"
Garrison/HQ| Fossano
Motto(s)| "Fino alla fine"
Anniversaries| 24 June 1918 - Second Battle of the Piave River
Engagements| World War II
War in Afghanistan
Decorations|
1x Silver Medal of Military Valour
1x Bronze Medal of Military Valour[2]
Insignia
Alpine sappers gorget patches|

Alpine sappers Nappina|

Military unit

Soldier from the 32nd Engineer Regiment in Afghanistan

The 32nd Engineer Regiment (Italian: 32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori) is a military engineer regiment of the Italian Army based in Fossano in Piedmont. Raised on 24 September 2004 it is the youngest engineer regiment of the Italian Army and specializes in mountain combat. Its name was chosen to commemorate the XXXII Sapper Battalion, which fought in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II, while the regiment's only battalion, the XXX Sappers Battalion, fought in the Italian campaign on the Eastern Front. Since its reformation on 1 September 2002 as 32nd Engineer Battalion the unit has been part of the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense". Together with the other units of the Taurinense the regiment shares the right to wear the distinctive Cappello Alpino.[3]

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 World War II
* 1.1.1 XXXII Sappers Battalion
* 1.1.2 XXX Sappers Battalion
* 1.2 Cold War
* 1.3 Recent times
* 2 Current structure
* 3 See also
* 4 External links
* 5 References

## History[edit]

### World War II[edit]

#### XXXII Sappers Battalion[edit]

On 1 December 1940 the Royal Italian Army Engineer School in Civitavecchia raised the 3rd Engineer Company "Folgore" ("Thunderbolt") and the 4th Engineer Company "Uragano" ("Hurricane"). At the same time the school also raised the companies which would go on to form the VIII, XXX, and XXXI sapper battalions. On 14 January 1941 the two companies were sent to Libya, where they formed a provisional battalion under the 1st Special Engineer Grouping. As part of Rommel's Afrika Korps the battalion participated in Rommel's first offensive Operation Sonnenblume. On 15 August 1941, congruent to the activation of Panzer Army Africa], the battalion was renamed XXXII Sappers Battalion and participated in all battles of the Western Desert Campaign until the battalion was disbanded on 1 August 1942 after having suffered heavy casualties during the First Battle of El Alamein. The 70 survivors of the battalion were transferred to the XXXI Sappers Battalion, which was attached to the 185th Paratroopers Division "Folgore" for the Second Battle of El Alamein. After the defeat at El Alamein the XXXI Sappers Battalion retreated with the rest of the Italian-German forces to Tunisia, where it surrendered at the end of the Tunisian Campaign on 13 May 1943.[4][1] For its service in North Africa the XXXII Sappers Battalion was awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valour.[2]

#### XXX Sappers Battalion[edit]

The XXX Sappers Battalion headquarters was activated on 15 March 1941 by the depot of the 4th Engineer Regiment in Verona with the 5th Engineer Company "Tormenta" ("Blizzard"), 6th Engineer Company "Teste Dure" ("Hard Skulls"), and 9th Engineer Company "Valanga" ("Avalanche"), which had all been raised earlier by the Engineer School in Civitavecchia. At the time of the battalion's founding the three companies were fighting in the Greco-Italian War and the headquarters quickly travelled to Albania to take command of its units. After the German invasion of Greece and the Greek surrender the battalion returned to Italy and was garrisoned in Ronchi dei Legionari. During this time the 6th company was transferred to the 80th Airlanding Division "La Spezia" and the 5th company changed its number to 6th.[5]

On 17 March 1942 the battalion was assigned to support the Alpini of the Alpine Army Corps of the 8th Italian Army, which was sent to the Eastern Front. The battalion left Italy on 21 July 1942 and arrived in Voroshilovgrad in early September 1942 and entered soon after the front at the Don. The battalion retreated with the Alpine Corps after the second stage of the Soviet Operation Little Saturn had broken the front on both flanks of the Italian 8th Army. The retreat through the frozen steppe and constant skirmishes with Soviet forces decimated the XXX battalion, which barely escaped annihilation during the Battle of Nikolayevka. Of the 23 officers, 30 non-commissioned officers and 427 soldiers present on 1 January 1943 only 121 survived the retreat from the Don and the Battle of Nikolayevka. The battalion was disbanded in late January for the losses it had suffered and in 1988 the XXX Sappers Battalion was awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valour for its conduct in Ukraine and Russia.[2][5]

### Cold War[edit]

During the 1975 army reform the Italian Army reorganized the XXXI Sappers Fortification Battalion into the 3rd Engineer Battalion "Verbano" with the 30th, 31st, and 32nd companies, each of which carried on the traditions of one of the three World War II-era battalions.

### Recent times[edit]

32nd Engineer Battalion coat of arms 2002-2004

On 1 September 2002 the 32nd Engineer Battalion was reformed in Turin by reorganized the 2nd Railway Engineer Battalion of the Railway Engineer Regiment. The battalion was merged on the same date with the Engineer Company of the Alpine Brigade "Taurinense" and entered the brigade as its engineer unit.[4][1]

On 29 September 2004 the battalion was renamed XXX Sappers Battalion and entered in the newly formed 32nd Engineer Regiment, thus unifying and continuing the traditions of two of the World War II battalions in one unit. On 15 December 2016 the regiment moved from Turin to Fossano.[4][1]

## Current structure[edit]

As of 2019 the 32nd Engineer Regiment consists of:[6]

* Regimental Command, in Fossano
* 5th Command and Logistic Support Company
* XXX Sappers Battalion
* 3rd Mobility Support Company "Folgore"
* 4th Deployment Support Company "Uragano"
* 6th Sappers Company "Tormenta"
* 9th Sappers Company "Valanga"

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[edit]

* Alpine Brigade "Taurinense"

## External links[edit]

* Italian Army Website: 32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "2° Reggimento Genio Guastatori - La Storia". Italian Army. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
2. ^ a b c "32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori - Il Medagliere". Italian Army. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
3. ^ "32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori". Italian Army. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
4. ^ a b c "La Storia del 32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori". Associazione Nazionale Genieri e Trasmettitori d'Italia. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
5. ^ a b "XXX btg.gua". Gruppo Nazionale Guastatori del Genio. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
6. ^ "32° Reggimento Genio Guastatori". Ministero della Difesa. Retrieved 4 December 2019.

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Italian Army

Four-star rank (OF 9)|

Chief of the Army General Staff

Three-star rank (OF 8)|

* COMFOTER COE
* COMFOP Nord
* COMFOP Sud
* COMFOTER Support

* COMTA
* NRDC-ITA
* Capital Military Command
* COMLOG
* COMFORDOT

Two-star rank (OF 7)|

| Divisions|

* "Acqui"
* "Tridentina"
* "Vittorio Veneto"

|

Other|

* Army Aviation Command
* Army Simulation and Validation Center
* Army Training Command and Application School
* Engineer Command

One-star rank (OF 6)|

| Brigades|

* "Aosta"
* "Ariete"
* "Folgore"
* "Friuli"
* "Garibaldi"
* "Granatieri di Sardegna"
* "Julia"
* "Pinerolo"

* "Pozzuolo del Friuli"
* "Sassari"
* "Taurinense"
* Army Aviation
* NRDC-ITA Support
* Tactical Intelligence

|

Commands|

* Army Special Forces
* Army Aviation Support
* Artillery
* Anti-aircraft Artillery
* Signal
* Logistic Support

Other|

* Military Academy
* Army NCO School
* Infantry School
* Cavalry School
* Administrative School

* Medical and Veterinary School
* Alpine Training Center
* Army Aviation Training Center

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Italian Army engineer units

Engineers|

| Active|

2nd Bridge Engineer Regiment, 2nd Engineer Regiment, 3rd Engineer Regiment, 4th Engineer Regiment, 5th Engineer Regiment, 6th Pioneer Regiment, 8th Paratroopers Engineer Regiment "Folgore", 10th Engineer Regiment, 11th Engineer Regiment, 21st Engineer Regiment, 32nd Engineer Regiment, Railway Engineer Regiment, Multinational CIMIC Group

|

Inactive|

1st Engineer Regiment, 51st Engineer Battalion "Simeto", 104th Engineer Battalion "Torre", 131st Engineer Battalion "Ticino"

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Italian Army alpine units

Alpini|

| Active|

2nd Alpini Regiment, 3rd Alpini Regiment, 4th Alpini Paratroopers Regiment, 5th Alpini Regiment, 6th Alpini Regiment, 7th Alpini Regiment, 8th Alpini Regiment, 9th Alpini Regiment

|

Inactive|

1st Alpini Regiment, 11th Alpini Regiment, 12th Alpini Regiment, 14th Alpini Regiment, 15th Alpini Regiment, 16th Alpini Regiment, 18th Alpini Regiment, Alpini Battalion "Mondovì", Alpini Battalion "Tirano", Alpini Battalion "Val Brenta", Alpini Battalion "Val Chiese", Alpini Battalion "Val Tagliamento"

Support|

| Active|

1st Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain), 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (Mountain), 2nd Alpine Signal Regiment, 2nd Engineer Regiment, 32nd Engineer Regiment, Logistic Regiment "Julia", Logistic Regiment "Taurinense"

|

Inactive|

2nd Mountain Artillery Regiment, 5th Mountain Artillery Regiment, 6th Mountain Artillery Regiment, Mountain Artillery Group "Agordo", Mountain Artillery Group "Asiago", Mountain Artillery Group "Belluno", Mountain Artillery Group "Pinerolo", Mountain Artillery Group "Sondrio", Mountain Artillery Group "Udine", 4th Engineer Battalion "Orta", 4th Signal Battalion "Gardena", 4th Army Corps Transport Group "Claudia", Logistic Battalion "Cadore", Logistic Battalion "Julia", Logistic Battalion "Orobica", Logistic Battalion "Taurinense", Logistic Battalion "Tridentina"
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