Today
During the late 1990ties the brigade was reorganized to become Italy's first and only Air Assault Brigade. The 33rd Tank and 121st Infantry regiments were dissolved; the 21st Self-propelled Artillery Regiment was transferred to the Pinerolo Armored Brigade in Southern Italy. In 1995 the brigade received the 4th Army Corps' 3rd Cavalry Regiment Savoia Cavalleria, which was transferred from Meran in South Tyrol to Grosseto in Tuscany. On 5 September of the same year the 78th Infantry Regiment Lupi di Toscana left the brigade to become a basic training regiment. On 1 January 1999, the 7th Army Aviation Regiment Vega and on 1 May 2000, the 5th Army Aviation Regiment Rigel were transferred to the brigade, which on the second date changed its name to Friuli Air Assault Brigade. On 27 June 2001 the Friuli Logistic Battalion became the 6th Transport Regiment and was transferred to the Logistic Projection Brigade. On 1 January 2005, the 6th Bersaglieri Regiment was transferred to the Aosta Mechanized Brigade on Sicily.
During the 2013 reform the Friuli ceded the 3rd Cavalry Regiment Savoia Cavalleria to the Folgore Parachute Brigade. In turn the Friuli received the Lagunari Amphibious Assault Infantry Regiment Serenissima, the Horse Artillery Regiment Volòire and the 3rd Engineer Regiment from the disbanded Pozzuolo del Friuli Cavalry Brigade. Furthermore from the disbanded Logistic Projection Command the 6th Transport Regiment was transferred to the brigade and became the Friuli Logistic Regiment.
Thus on 16 July 2013 the structure of the brigade was as follows:
- Command and Tactical Support Battalion in Bologna (Emilia-Romagna)
- 4th Cavalry Regiment Genova Cavalleria in Palmanova (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
- 66th Air Assault Infantry Regiment Trieste in Forlì (Emilia-Romagna)
- Lagunari Amphibious Assault Infantry Regiment "Serenissima" in Venice (Veneto) with AAV7-A1 and Puma 4x4
- 5th Army Aviation Regiment Rigel in Casarsa della Delizia (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
- 7th Army Aviation Regiment Vega in Rimini (Romagna)
- Horse Artillery Regiment "Volòire" in Milan (Lombardy) with 24 FH-70
- 3rd Engineer Regiment in Udine (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
- Friuli Logistic Regiment in Budrio (Romagna)
All regiments were battalion sized.
On 16 July 2013 the brigade ceded its name and traditions to the Friuli Division Command in Florence. Until a new name is awarded to the unit the former Friuli Air Assault Brigade is now simply the Air Assault Brigade.
Read more about this topic: Friuli Air Assault Brigade
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