The Alpini: Italy's Elite Mountain Troops

The Alpini, photo taken in 2008

The Alpini (Italian for "Alpines") are an elite mountain warfare military corps of the Italian Army. Founded in 1872, they are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world. Their original mission was to protect Italy's northern alpine borders from France and Austria. They are distinguished by their alpine hats, known as the 'cappello alpino'.

Their most notable campaign was in World War I (1915-1918), where they fought for three years in the Italian Alps, emerging victorious against the Austro-Hungarian Kaiserjäger and the German Alpenkorps in what is now known as the "White War".

The Alpini also fought with distinction in numerous other wars:

• First Italo-Ethiopian War (1895-1896)
• Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901)
• Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912)
• Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935-1936)
• World War II (1940-1945)
• War in Afghanistan (2001-present)

They also served in many peacekeeping missions:

• Lebanon (MNF, 1982-1984)
• Iraq-Kurdistan (Operation Provide Comfort, 1991-1996)
• Mozambique (Operation UNOMOZ, 1992)
• Bosnia (SFOR, 1996-2004)
• Albania (Operation Alba, 1997; AFOR, 1999)
• Kosovo (KFOR, 1999-present)
• Afghanistan (ISAF, 2001-2014)

The Alpini have also served in public order operations in Sicily (Operation Sicilian Vespers, 1992-1998) and Calabria (Operation Riace, 1994-1995) against the Mafia, and assisted the civilian populations after the 1994 flood in Piedmont and the 2016 earthquake in Central Italy.