Carabinieri Mobile Units Division

Carabinieri Mobile Units Division
Divisione Unità Mobili Carabinieri
Emblem of the Carabinieri Mobile Units Division
Active	1 February 2001-present
Country	Italy
Branch	Carabinieri
Type	Gendarmerie
Role	Military tasks
Size	Division 6,500 troops (2004)
Part of	Specialists and Mobile Units Command
Garrison/HQ	Rome
Commanders
Current commander	Gen. D. Maurizio Detalmo Mezzavilla

The Carabinieri Mobile Units Division (Italian: Divisione Unità Mobili Carabinieri) is the Carabinieri formation, established in 2001, dedicated to the performance of military duties abroad, the military police tasks when abroad, the support to Territorial Organization, the participation in civil protection operations and to ensure the emergency reserve for the General Command.

Carabinieri units devoted to the riot control and to tactical tasks experienced several organizational phases, from late 1910s to the present day.

The history of the branch of the Carabinieri specifically dedicated to quell massive civil disturbances dates back in 1919, when 18 Carabinieri Autonomous Mobile Battalions (Battaglioni Mobili Autonomi) were established in order to deal with the Biennio Rosso. The autonomous mobile Battalions took the name of their seat and were marked with serial number if several Battalions residents in the same city: Turin (2 Battalions), Alessandria, Genoa, Milan (2 Battalions), Verona, Florence, Bologna, Ancona, Rome (2 Battalions), Naples (2 Battalions), Bari, Palermo, Catania. The Battalions were organized on 3 Carabinieri on foot companies and 1 Cyclist Carabinieri Company, each with a total force of 750 men under the command of a lieutenant colonel.

Two years later, in 1922, six Battalions were disestablished and at the next year the remaining Battalions followed. However, Battalions subordinated to the local Legion remained in existence: two in Rome and one in Palermo.

In 1940 the new Army organization foresaw four Carabinieri Battalions, while in 1945 12 Battalions (renamed Mobile Battalions) were re-established, in order to deal with the civil unrest following the end of the civil war, alongside with four Mobile Battalions Groups. The 1945-established Mobile Battalions were equipped, supplied and maintained by the relevant Carabinieri Legion. The Mobile Battalions Groups were: