Alpine Brigade Tridentina

Brigata Alpina Tridentina
Coat of Arms of the Alpine Brigade Tridentina
Active	1 May 1951 - 31 December 2002
Country	Italy
Branch	Italian Army
Type	Alpini
Role	Mountain Infantry
Part of	IV Army Corps 1951 - today
Garrison/HQ	Brixen

The Alpini Brigade Tridentina was a light Infantry brigade of the Italian Army, specializing in mountain warfare. Its core units were the Alpini, the mountain infantry corps of the Italian Army, that distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. The Tridentina Alpine Brigade carried on the colours and traditions of the WWII era 2nd Alpine Division Tridentina.

The brigade was based in the eastern half of the Italian province of South Tyrol. The headquarters was in the city of Brixen. The brigade was disbanded in 2002, however the name and traditions were carried on by the newly raised Division Tridentina, a deployable military headquarters of the Italian Army, which in 2016 became once more a full division.

The Tridentina was constituted on 1 May 1951 in the city of Brixen. The brigade’s name Tridentina was taken from the name Venezia Tridentina, which was the name invented by the linguist Graziadio Isaia Ascoli for the region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and was officially in use for the area between 1919 and 1948. The brigade was based in the region and drew the majority of its recruits from it. The brigade was tasked with defending the Puster Valley, ensuring that invading Warsaw Pact troops would be unable to cut the vital supply line over the Brenner Pass. To aid in the defense of the valley part of the pre-WWII fortifications of the Alpine Wall were reactivated and upgraded. The brigade’s strength was around 4200 men and initially it was composed of the: