On September 15, 2001, the 2nd Mobile Brigade Carabinieri was established in Livorno, a Major Unit of the Arma designed to bring together units with high military capabilities, international projection capacity and intervention in the most complex scenarios.

Its establishment occurred at a moment of profound transformation for the Carabinieri. Only a year earlier, with Law March 31, 2000 No. 78 and the subsequent reorganization, the Arma had acquired an autonomous placement within the Ministry of Defense with the rank of Armed Force, ceasing to be the first Arm of the Italian Army.

The new status represented not only an administrative change. The Arma's military tasks were also defined in a more organic manner: participation in military operations in Italy and abroad, military police, contribution to national defense and participation in international missions.

At the same time, the commitment of the Carabinieri beyond national borders was growing. The experiences gained in the Balkans and in multinational missions made it increasingly important to have units specifically organized, trained and readily deployable.

It is in this context of autonomy of the new Armed Force, organizational reorganization and growing international projection that the 2nd Mobile Brigade was born.

Twenty-five years after its establishment, the Brigade has under its command the 1st Regiment Carabinieri Paratroopers “Tuscania”, the Special Intervention Group (GIS), the 7th Regiment Carabinieri “Trentino Alto Adige” and the 13th Regiment Carabinieri “Friuli Venezia Giulia”.

Different units in terms of characteristics and tasks that concentrate military and specialist capabilities among the most advanced in the Arma.

The Tuscania and nearly forty years in the Folgore

Within the 2nd Mobile Brigade, the Tuscania represents one of the units with the most ancient military tradition.

Its origins date back to the 1st Battalion Royal Carabinieri Paratroopers, established in July 1940 with volunteers from the Arma trained at the Parachute School in Tarquinia.

The history of paratrooper Carabinieri is thus intertwined with that of the first Italian airborne troops from their origins. During World War II, Arma personnel were also present in the 185th Parachute Division “Folgore”, through the 185th Section Carabinieri Paratroopers.

But it is especially in the post-war period that the relationship with the Folgore becomes structural and destined to last for decades.

With the reconstitution of Italian airborne troops, the 1st Battalion Carabinieri Paratroopers entered the organization of the Army's Parachute Brigade, which from 1967 would assume the name “Folgore”.

Da allora Carabinieri e paracadutisti dell’Esercito condivisero per quasi quarant’anni addestramento, esercitazioni, attività operative e quella particolare cultura militare sviluppatasi all’interno della Grande Unità paracadutisti italiana.

Nel 1975 il reparto assunse la denominazione di 1° Battaglione Carabinieri Paracadutisti “Tuscania”, mentre nel 1996 venne elevato al rango di Reggimento.

Il legame ordinativo con la Folgore terminò il 15 marzo 2002, quando il 1° Reggimento Carabinieri Paracadutisti “Tuscania” passò alle dipendenze della 2ª Brigata Mobile Carabinieri.

Si chiudeva così una fase durata quasi quattro decenni, mentre iniziava un nuovo capitolo all’interno dell’organizzazione della Forza Armata Carabinieri.

Dal Tuscania nasce il GIS

La storia della 2ª Brigata Mobile incrocia anche quella di un altro reparto divenuto simbolo delle capacità speciali italiane: il Gruppo di Intervento Speciale.

Il GIS viene costituito il 6 febbraio 1978, nel pieno degli anni di piombo, quando la minaccia terroristica impose allo Stato la creazione di unità capaci di intervenire nelle situazioni più critiche, dalla liberazione di ostaggi alle operazioni antiterrorismo.

Per formare il nuovo reparto, l’Arma attinse proprio al 1° Battaglione Carabinieri Paracadutisti “Tuscania”.

Fu una scelta legata alle caratteristiche del reparto: personale già fortemente selezionato, addestrato al combattimento, al tiro, alle tecniche paracadutistiche e all’impiego in situazioni operative ad elevato rischio.

Ancora oggi gli operatori del GIS provengono dal Tuscania, mantenendo un legame professionale e identitario che affonda le proprie radici nella componente paracadutista dell’Arma.

Negli anni il Gruppo avrebbe sviluppato capacità sempre più avanzate, passando dalle esigenze antiterrorismo degli anni Settanta a un ventaglio molto più ampio di operazioni speciali di polizia e militari.

Dal 2004 il GIS è inserito nel Comparto Operazioni Speciali della Difesa, con rango pari alle altre unità incursori delle Forze Armate.

Accanto alla storica funzione di Unità di Intervento Speciale antiterrorismo, il GIS costituisce quindi anche una Forza Speciale Tier 1, impiegabile nei teatri operativi militari nell’ambito del comparto delle Operazioni Speciali della Difesa.

Anche il Tuscania diventa Forza Speciale

La più recente evoluzione riguarda proprio il reparto dal quale il GIS ebbe origine.

Il 28 maggio 2024, il 1° Reggimento Carabinieri Paracadutisti “Tuscania” è entrato ufficialmente nel Comparto Operazioni Speciali della Difesa quale Forza Speciale.

Un passaggio storico che ha portato il Reggimento all’interno del livello Tier 2 delle Forze Speciali italiane.

The Tuscania is today capable of conducting autonomously, according to national and NATO requirements, the entire spectrum of the main tasks assigned to Special Forces Tier 2: Military Assistance, Special Reconnaissance and Direct Action.

To these capabilities are added those peculiar to the Corps that can be expressed in the collection of evidence elements on the battlefield, through activities of Tactical Site Exploitation and Evidence Collection.

The transformation marks another milestone in the evolution of a unit born with the first Italian airborne troops, grown for almost forty years in the Folgore and today officially became one of the Defense's Special Forces.

A Brigade designed for the most complex scenarios

Twenty-five years after its establishment, the 2nd Mobile Brigade therefore presents a particularly significant characteristic: it brings together within itself also the two Special Forces of the Carabinieri Corps.

On the one hand the GIS, a raider unit belonging to the Tier 1 component.

On the other hand the 1st Carabinieri Parachute Regiment “Tuscania”, today Special Force Tier 2.

Two units with different roles and complementary capabilities, but united by a shared history and a strong airborne heritage. The GIS was indeed born from the men of the Tuscania and even today the latter represents the unit of origin of its operators.

A historical line that directly connects the first experiences of the Carabinieri airborne troops to modern Special Operations. For operational employment in this field, GIS and Tuscania refer to the Joint Command for Special Forces Operations (COFS) of the Defense.

The 2nd Mobile Brigade, naturally, is not composed solely of Tuscania and GIS.

The 7th Carabinieri Regiment “Trentino Alto Adige” and the 13th Carabinieri Regiment “Friuli Venezia Giulia” constitute other fundamental components of the Large Unit and are intended for military tasks in out-of-area operations, to contribute to the Integrated Defense of the national territory and to public order services.

The Tuscania adds to these capabilities its nature as a parachute unit.

The GIS represents instead the capability of definitive intervention by the Corps in the most serious crises and, on the military side, the Tier 1 raider component of the Carabinieri.

The Large Unit of Livorno thus constitutes one of the points where the particular nature of the Corps emerges most clearly: a general competence police force and at the same time an Armed Force capable of operating in the most complex military scenarios.

Twenty-five years of 2nd Mobile Brigade

At 25 years from its establishment, the history of the 2nd Mobile Brigade also tells an important part of the military evolution of the Carabinieri Corps.

Its birth comes immediately after the historic recognition of the rank of autonomous Armed Force and in the midst of the expansion of Italian commitment in international missions.

A few months after the constitution of the Brigade, the Tuscania leaves the Parachute Brigade “Folgore”, after almost forty years, and enters the new Major Unit of the Carabinieri.

Meanwhile the GIS, born in 1978 precisely from the men of Tuscania, evolves to become one of the special operations units of the national special operations sector.

Finally, in 2024, Tuscania also makes a further leap by officially entering the sector as a Tier 2 Special Force.

From the Royal Parachutist Carabinieri Battalion of 1940 to Folgore, from the birth of the GIS to modern Special Operations, there is therefore a thread that runs through more than eighty years of history.

September 15, 2001 represents one of the central passages of this path: the birth of the 2nd Mobile Carabinieri Brigade, a Major Unit in which the Carabinieri today concentrates some of its most advanced military, parachute, and specialist capabilities.