Alpine Brigade Julia

Brigata Alpina "Julia"
Coat of Arms Julia Alpine Brigade
Active	15 October 1949 – present Alpine Brigade Julia
Allegiance	Italian Army
Branch	Army
Type	Brigade
Role	Alpini
Part of	Tridentina Division Command
Garrison/HQ	Udine
Colors	green
Engagements	Bosnia SFOR Kosovo KFOR Afghanistan ISAF

The Alpini Brigade Julia is a light Infantry brigade of the Italian Army, specializing in Mountain Combat. Its core units are the Alpini, the mountain infantry corps of the Italian Army, that distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. The brigade’s name Julia alludes to the Julian Alps were the brigade is based. The Brigade carries on the name and traditions of the 3rd Alpine Division Julia.

The Brigade supplies the headquarters and most units to the Multinational Land Force, also known as the Italian-Hungarian-Slovenian Battlegroup. Component parts from the other two countries are the Slovenian 10th Motorized Battalion and the Hungarian 1st Light Infantry Battalion.

The Julia was constituted on 15 October 1949 in the city of Udine. The brigade was the biggest in the Italian Army with around 10,000 men and was tasked to stop Warsaw Pact forces attacking through Austria over the Plöcken and Naßfeld passes, thus securing the Northern flank of the Italian 5th Army Corps, which formed the main line of defense against an enemy breakthrough into the Northern Italian plain. Initially the brigade was composed of the:

In the following years the brigade was augmented with further units:

On 26 October 1962 with transfer of the Mondovì Alpini Battalion and Pinerolo Mountain Artillery Group from the Alpine Brigade Taurinense the Julia reached its peak strength in men, units and equipment. For the next 30 years the Julia remained the largest brigade of the Italian Army. It was now composed of: