Italian Army

Italian Army
Esercito Italiano
Coat of arms of the Italian Army
Founded	4 May 1861 (163 years, 8 months)
Country	Italy
Type	Army
Role	Land warfare
Size	97,755 (2018)[1]
Part of	Italian Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ	Rome
Motto(s)	Latin: Salus Rei Publicae Suprema Lex Esto "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law"
March	4 Maggio (May 4) by Fulvio Creux
Anniversaries	4 November, National Unity and Armed Forces Day 4 May, Army Day
Engagements	Risorgimento War of 1866 Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889 Mahdist War First Italo-Abyssinian War Boxer Rebellion Italo-Turkish War World War I Second Italo-Abyssinian War Spanish Civil War Italian invasion of Albania World War II Gulf War Kosovo War 1999 East Timorese crisis Global War on Terrorism Iraq War War in Afghanistan
Decorations	3 Cavalier Crosses of the Military Order of Italy 1 Gold Medal of Military Valor 2 Gold Medals of Civil Valor 1 Silver Medal of Civil Valor 1 Silver Medal of Civil Merit
Commanders
President of Italy	Sergio Mattarella
Chief of Staff	Generale di Corpo d'Armata Carmine Masiello
Notable commanders	Giuseppe Garibaldi Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Emanuele Filiberto, 2nd Duke of Aosta Enrico Caviglia Pietro Badoglio Giovanni Messe
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The Italian Army (Italian: Esercito Italiano [EI]) is the land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China, Libya, Northern Italy against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, Abyssinia before World War II and in World War II in Albania, Balkans, North Africa, the Soviet Union, and Italy itself. During the Cold War, the army prepared itself to defend against a Warsaw Pact invasion from the east. Since the end of the Cold War, the army has seen extensive peacekeeping service and combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Its best-known combat vehicles are the Dardo infantry fighting vehicle, the Centauro tank destroyer and the Ariete tank and among its aircraft the Mangusta attack helicopter, recently deployed in UN missions. The headquarters of the Army General Staff are located in Rome opposite the Quirinal Palace, where the president of Italy resides. The army is an all-volunteer force of active-duty personnel.