The 10th Engineer Regiment ( it, 10° Reggimento Genio Guastatori) is a

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...

regiment of the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

based in

Cremona Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

in Lombardy. Today the regiment is the engineer unit of the 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete". The 10th Engineer Regiment was formed in 1926. During the

Second Italo-Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy and Ethiopian Empire, Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethio ...

and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the regiment formed engineer battalions and smaller units for deploying divisions. The regiment was disbanded by invading German forces after the announcement of the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and B ...

on 8 September 1943. In 1953 the III Army Corps Engineer Battalion was formed and assigned to the III Army Corps. In 1975 the battalion was named for the Lario river and assigned the flag and traditions of the 10th Engineer Regiment. In 1993, the battalion was disbanded and the regiment's flag was transferred to the newly formed 10th Pioneer Regiment. Since 2000, the regiment is assigned to the 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete". The regimental anniversary falls, as for all engineer units, on June 24, the end of the Second Battle of the Piave River in 1918.

History

On 13 October 1922, the 8th Army Corps Engineer Grouping was formed in

Santa Maria Capua Vetere Santa Maria Capua Vetere ( nap, Santa Maria 'e Capua) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, part of the region of Campania (southern Italy). Though it is not connected with the ''Civitas Capuana'', the town is a medieval place and i ...

, which received the Sappers Battalion and the Telegraphers Battalion of the X Army Corps, and a miners company from the disbanded Miners Engineer Regiment. The grouping consisted of a command, a sappers-miners battalion, a telegraphers battalion, a photo-electricians company, two dovecotes (in

Gaeta Gaeta (; lat, Cāiēta; Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a city in the province of Latina, in Lazio, Southern Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The town has played a consp ...

and

Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its ...

), and a depot. On 5 November 1926, the grouping was renamed 10th Engineer Regiment. In February 1928, the regiment provided troops for the formation of the 11th Engineer Regiment. On 28 October 1932, the regiment received the IV Battalion of the disbanded 1st Radio-Telegraphers Regiment. For the

the regiment mobilized on 23 September 1935 the X Replacements Engineer Battalion, which supplied 1,300 men to the 8th Engineer Regiment fighting in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...

. The X Replacements Engineer Battalion was disbanded on 15 January 1936. The regiment also formed the XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII, and XXXIV sappers-engineer battalions in 1935 for the war, and the XXXIII and XXXVIII engineer battalions in 1936. The regiment also formed in 1936 the XX and XXXI marching engineer battalions for deployment to Ethiopia, which provided additional replacement troops to the already deployed battalions. At the end of 1936, the regiment consisted of a command, an engineer battalion, a telegraphers battalion, the dovecote in Gaeta, and a depot. In January 1937, the telegraphers and radio-telegraphers battalions were renamed connections battalions. On 1 January 1937, the regiment's depot helped form the 20th Engineer Regiment, which was raised for service in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

World War II

With the outbreak of

the regiment's depot began to mobilize new units: * Command of the 4th Engineer Grouping (for service in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

) * Command of the 130th Marching Regiment (to provide replacements for units fighting in the Western Desert Campaign) * XXV Mixed Engineer Battalion (for the 25th Infantry Division "Bologna") * XXVII Mixed Engineer Battalion (for the

27th Infantry Division "Brescia" The 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" ( it, 27ª Divisione di fanteria "Brescia") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Brescia was named after the city of Brescia in Lombardy. The Brescia was classified as ...

) * LV Mixed Engineer Battalion (for the 55th Infantry Division "Savona") * XIX Engineer Battalion * XXIII Engineer Battalion * XXIV Engineer Battalion * IV Telegraphers Battalion * X Army Corps Engineer Battalion * X Army Corps Connections Battalion (for the X Army Corps) * XL Workers Group * and many smaller units The regiment was disbanded by invading German forces after the announcement of the

on 8 September 1943.

Cold War

On 1 April 1953, III Army Corps Engineer Battalion was formed in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

by expanding the existing 3rd Territorial Engineer Company. On 1 June 1953, the Command Platoon and the 2nd Engineer Company were added. In November 1953 Field Park Company was activated. The battalion was assigned to the III Army Corps. During the 1975 army reform, the army disbanded the regimental level and newly independent battalions were granted for the first time their own flags. During the reform engineer battalions were named for a lake if they supported a corps or named for a river if they supported a division or brigade. On 10 October 1975 the III Army Corps Engineer Battalion was renamed 3rd Engineer Battalion " Lario" and assigned the flag and traditions of the 10th Engineer Regiment. The battalion consisted of a command, a command and park company, and three engineer companies and was assigned to the 3rd Army Corps' Engineer Command. At the time the battalion fielded 756 men (38 officers, 98 non-commissioned officers, and 620 soldiers). On 1 January 1987, the Command and Park Company split into the Command and Services Company and the Special Equipment Company. In 1992, the battalion moved from Pavia to

. On 15 August 1993, the 3rd Engineer Battalion "Lario" was disbanded and the next day the 10th Pioneer Regiment was formed with the personnel and materiel of the disbanded battalion and the personnel and materiel of the 131st Engineer Battalion "Ticino", which had been disbanded on 10 June 1993. And on 16 August 1993 the flag and traditions of the 10th Engineer Regiment were transferred to the 10th Pioneer Regiment. On 24 September 1996, the regiment was renamed 10th Engineer Regiment. In June 1999 the regiment relocated almost completely to

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

for

Operation Joint Guardian Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

. On 1 September 2000, the regiment was assigned to the 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete".

International missions

The regiment participated in the following international missions: * Operation "Joint Forge" (Bosnia), in 1999 at company level and in 2000 at platoon level * Operation “Joint Guarantor” (

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

), in 1999 at company level *

(

), in 1999 and 2002 at regimental level and in 2000 and 2001 at battalion level *

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

(

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

), in 2002, initially at company level and, later with two companies and a Multinational Engineer Group *

Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 att ...

(

), in 2003 with an EOD platoon * Operation “Decisive Endeavor” (Kosovo), in 2003 at battalion level *

Operation Ancient Babylon Operation Ancient Babylon ( it, Operazione Antica Babilonia) was the code name given to the deployment of Italian forces during the Iraq War. Their mission lasted from 15 July 2003 to 1 December 2006. The troops were located in and around Nasiri ...

(Iraq), in 2004 at regimental level

Organization

As of 2023 the 10th Engineer Regiment consists of: * CoA mil ITA rgt genio 10

Regimental Command, in

** Command and Logistic Support Company ** Sappers Battalion "

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

" *** 1st Sappers Company *** 4th Sappers Company *** 5th Sappers Company *** 6th Deployment Support Company

External links

Italian Army Website: 10° Reggimento Genio Guastatori

References

{{Italian Army Engineer Regiments Engineer Regiments of Italy Military units and formations established in 1926 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 Military units and formations established in 1975 Military units and formations disestablished in 1993 Military units and formations established in 1993