Trieste Mechanized Brigade

Brigata Meccanizzata Trieste
Coat of Arms of the Trieste Mechanized Brigade
Active	20 October 1960 - 1 June 1991
Country	Italy
Branch	Italian Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Armoured warfare
Part of	1975 - 1986 Folgore Mechanized Division 1986 - 1991 3rd Army Corps
Garrison/HQ	Bologna

The Trieste Mechanized Brigade was a mechanized brigade of the Italian Army. Its core units were mechanized Infantry battalions. The brigades headquarters was in the city of Bologna.

The Trieste brigade's history began in August 1862 when the Valtellina Infantry Brigade was raised. The brigade consisted of the 65th Infantry Regiment Valtellina and the 66th Infantry Regiment Valtellina. The brigade along with the Brescia Brigade formed the 5th Division of the Line in the Third Italian War of Independence, where it fought in the Battle of Custoza. Personnel from the brigade was dispatched to fight in the Italian colonial wars in Eritrea in 1887, Abyssinia in 1895 and Libya in 1911.

During World War I the brigade fought on the Italian Front as part of the 7th Division of the Line, which was part of the IV Army Corps. In spring 1915 the brigade moved to the Austrian border and saw its first combat during the First Battle of the Isonzo. By wars end the brigade had reached the city of Trento.

In 1926 the Italian army decided to change the structure of its divisions: instead of two brigades with two infantry regiments each the new divisions would consist of one brigade with three infantry regiments. Therefore, in the same year the Valtellina brigade was disbanded. The 65th regiment was transferred to VIII Infantry Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division Po, while the 66th regiment was transferred to XVI Infantry Brigade of the 16th Infantry Division Fossalta.