Logistic Battalion "Piemonte"

The Logistic Battalion "Piemonte" (Battaglione Logistico "Piemonte") is an inactive logistics unit of the Italian Army. The battalion was formed in 1976 as Logistic Battalion "Centauro" and assigned to the Armored Division "Centauro". After the division was disbanded in 1986 the battalion was reorganized as a brigade logistic battalion and renamed Logistic Battalion "Piemonte". From 1986 to 1991 the battalion was assigned to the 3rd Army Corps and earmarked to support reserve Motorized Brigade "Piemonte". The battalion was disbanded in 1991. The regimental anniversary falls, as for all units of the Transport and Materiel Corps, on 22 May, the anniversary of the Italian Army's first major automobile use to transport reinforcements to counter the Austro-Hungarian Offensive at Asiago in 1916.

History
The battalion is the spiritual successor of the logistic units of the Royal Italian Army's I Motor-mechanized Brigade formed on 2 June 1936, which on 20 April 1939 was expanded to 131st Armored Division "Centauro". The division participated in the Tunisian campaign and was destroyed in May 1943 in Tunisia. The battalion is also the spiritual successor of the logistic units of the 136th Armored Legionary Division "Centauro", which was active from July to September 1943.

On 1 April 1951 the Armored Brigade "Centauro" was formed in Verona. The brigade inherited the traditions of the two preceding divisions. On 1 November 1952 the brigade was expanded to Armored Division "Centauro". In fall of 1955 the division moved its headquarters to Novara and joined 3rd Army Corps.

On 1 October 1956 the logistic units of the division were assigned to the newly formed Service Units Command "Centauro" in Novara. The command consisted of a medical section, a provisions section, a mobile vehicle park, a mobile workshop, and an auto unit. On 10 November 1961 the mobile vehicle park and mobile workshop merged to form the Resupply, Repairs, Recovery Unit "Centauro".

In 1963 the Italian Army reorganized its divisions along NATO standards and added a brigade level to the divisions' structure. On 1 November 1963 the Service Units Command "Centauro" in Novara was reorganized as Services Grouping Command "Centauro". On 1 November 1964 the command of the II Services Battalion "Centauro" was activated in Civitavecchia and assigned to the II Armored Brigade "Centauro". On 12 August 1965 the command of the I Services Battalion "Centauro" was activated in Milan and assigned to the I Mechanized Brigade "Centauro" and on 1 September 1965 the command of the III Services Battalion "Centauro" was activated in Bellinzago Novarese and assigned to the III Armored Brigade "Centauro".

The three service battalions of the brigades consisted of a command, a command company, a auto unit, a medical company, and a Resupply, Repairs, Recovery Unit, while the Services Grouping Command "Centauro" consisted of a command, a command platoon, the Auto Unit "Centauro", the Medical Company "Centauro", the Resupply, Repairs, Recovery Unit "Centauro", and the Provisions Company "Centauro", which was disbanded in 1964. On 1 November 1966 the Services Grouping Command "Centauro" expanded the command platoon to command company.

In 1968 the army disbanded the divisional brigades and the three service battalions were assigned to the division's Services Grouping Command "Centauro" on 1 October 1968. The command now consisted of a command, a command company, the Auto Unit "Centauro", the Resupply, Repairs, Recovery Unit "Centauro", the Medical Company "Centauro", and the three service battalions.

Logistic Battalion "Centauro"


As part of the 1975 army reform the Armored Division "Centauro" was reorganized: on 1 August 1975 the II Services Battalion "Centauro" was transferred to the Infantry Division "Granatieri di Sardegna" and on 21 October 1975 the 3rd Mechanized Brigade "Goito" and 31st Armored Brigade "Curtatone" were formed from the division's units. On 1 January 1976 the I Services Battalion "Centauro" was renamed Logistic Battalion "Goito" and assigned to the 3rd Mechanized Brigade "Goito", while the III Services Battalion "Centauro" was renamed Logistic Battalion "Curtatone" and assigned to the 31st Armored Brigade "Curtatone".

On the same date, 1 January 1976, the division's services grouping command in Novara was reduced to Logistic Battalion "Centauro", which received all the traditions of the preceding logistic, transport, medical, maintenance, and supply units of the Centauro units. The battalion consisted of a command, a command platoon, a supply and transport company, a medium workshop, and a vehicle park. At the time the battalion fielded 472 men (21 officers, 66 non-commissioned officers, and 385 soldiers).

On 12 November 1976 the battalion was granted a flag by decree 846 of the President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone.

On 1 October 1981 the battalion was reorganized and renamed Maneuver Logistic Battalion "Centauro". It consisted now of the following units:


 * CoA mil ITA btg logistico divisione centauro.png Battalion Command, in Novara
 * Command and Services Company
 * Supply Company
 * Maintenance Company
 * Medium Transport Company
 * Mixed Transport Company

In 1986 the Italian Army abolished the divisional level and brigades, which until then had been under one of the Army's four divisions, came under direct command of the Army's 3rd Army Corps or 5th Army Corps. As the Armored Division "Centauro" carried the traditions of the 131st Armored Division "Centauro", which had distinguished itself in the Tunisian campaign of World War II, the army decided to retain the name of the division. On 31 October 1986 the Centauro's division command in Novara was disbanded and the next day the command of the Mechanized Brigade "Curtatone" moved from Bellinzago Novarese to Novara, where the command was renamed 31st Armored Brigade "Centauro". The brigade retained the Curtatone's units, which changed their names from Curtatone to Centauro.

On the same date, 1 November 1986, the Maneuver Logistic Battalion "Centauro" was assigned to the Support Units Command of the 3rd Army Corps. As there existed now the brigade's Logistic Battalion "Centauro" and the former division's Maneuver Logistic Battalion "Centauro" the latter was renamed Maneuver Logistic Battalion "Piemonte" on 1 May 1987. The battalion was then reorganized as a brigade logistic battalion and received a new coat of arms. As per army naming convention for logistic units supporting brigades the battalion was named for the brigade it would support, namely the Motorized Brigade "Piemonte", which was one of three wartime mobilization brigades of the Italian Army.

On 1 February 1988 the battalion was renamed Logistic Battalion "Piemonte" and consisted now of the following units:


 * CoA mil ITA btg logistico piemonte.png Battalion Command, in Novara
 * Command and Services Company
 * Supply Company
 * Maintenance Company
 * Medium Transport Company
 * Medical Unit (Reserve)

On 31 July 1991 the Logistic Battalion "Piemonte" was disbanded and on 7 November of the same year the battalion's flag was transferred to the Shrine of the Flags in the Vittoriano in Rome.