Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima"

During the Cold War, the regiment was stationed in the lagoon-rich south flank of the northeast Italian front. The Lagunari Regiment focused more on high intensity, conventional battlefields, such as those expected during the Cold War. Nowadays, its focus is on the more probable mid- and low intensity conflicts. The Lagunari have the ability to be projected to any hostile area around the globe due to their maneuverability. The Lagunari Regiment is versatile enough to be capable in conducting special operations under 'unconventional' methods while engaging on a 'conventional' battlefield. Today the Lagunari are intended for international missions, particularly in coastal regions and in areas rich in inland waterways.

The Lagunari Regiment is a littoral focused, amphibious, specialised light - medium force capable of deploying at short notice in support of the Italian military and diplomatic objectives overseas and is optimised for expeditionary warfare: operational situations requiring highly manoeuvrable, normally amphibious, forces. As the Italian Army's specialists in riverine operations the regiment provides assets and expertise for these operations. Held at a very high readiness they can respond quickly to events anywhere around the globe.

• Regimental Command, in Mestre[3]
  • Command and Logistic Support Company, in Mestre
  • 1st Lagunari Battalion, in Venice-Malcontenta
    • 1st Lagunari Company "Marghera"
    • 2nd Lagunari Company "Piave"
    • 3rd Lagunari Company "Isonzo"
    • Maneuver Support Company, in Mestre
  • Amphibious Tactical Support Company, on Vignole Island
  • Training Company, in Mestre

The Command and Logistic Support Company fields the following platoons: C3 Platoon, Transport and Materiel Platoon, Medical Platoon, and Commissariat Platoon. The Lagunari companies are equipped with VTLM Lince vehicles and consist of three fusilier platoons and one maneuver support platoon. The Maneuver Support Company consists of a Heavy Mortar Platoon with 120mm mortars, an Anti-tank Platoon with Spike MR anti-tank guided missiles, and a Sniper Section. The Amphibious Tactical Support Company consists of Reconnaissance Platoon, an Amphibious Assault Vehicles platoon with AAV7-A1 amphibious assault vehicles, and a Boat Platoon with small landing crafts and speedboats. In the near future the army plans to replace the AAV7-A1 with 82 Amphibious Combat Vehicles.[4]

The Lagunari are the heirs to the embarked troops of the Republic of Venice. In 1964, the Head of the Italian Army entrusted to the Lagunari Regiment "Serenissima" the traditions of this centuries-old unit. The birth of the embarked troops of Venice goes back to the time of the fourth crusade when the Doge "Enrico Dandolo" put together one Regiment of ten companies distributed on the warships of the Venetian fleet, and then employed them in the two captures of Constantinople (Bisanzio - 1203/1204). The embarked troops of Venice had their final organisation in 1550 becoming the "Fanti da Mar" (Infantry of the sea) and they distinguished themselves during all the wars that the Republic of Venice fought against the Ottoman Empire, especially during the sieges of Famagosta and Candia, and in the great victory in the battle of Lepanto. Since then, Venetian Fanti da Mar have taken part in more battles on land and sea around the world than any other branch of the modern Italian Army.

In 1951, the Italian army raised the Lagunari as an amphibious infantry unit. The Italian V Army Corps realized the need to secure its right flank against amphibious landings and due to the nature of the marshy tidal terrain and many small islands on the Northern Adriatic coast an amphibious unit was deemed the best answer to the needs of the Italian Army. Up to the army reform in 1975, the Lagunari Regiment consisted of three amphibious infantry and one tank battalion. Afterwards, it was reduced to two battalions: the amphibious infantry battalion "Serenissima" and the amphibious vehicles battalion "Sile" under the Amphibious Troops Command, which carried on the traditions of the regiment. The Amphibious Troops Command came under the Folgore Mechanized Division in 1975. When the Folgore was disbanded in 1986 the Command returned to the 5th Army Corps. In 1992, regiment was re-instituted and the two battalions merged into one. The regiment remained subordinate to the 5th Army Corps. Afterwards it came under the "Projection Forces Command" in Milan and later it joined the Pozzuolo del Friuli Brigade.

Today the Lagunari are intended for Army amphibious operation (shore to shore), riverine operations and international missions as specialized assault infantry. Plans to integrate the Lagunari into an amphibious brigade containing all Italian naval infantry, including the Navy's 1st San Marco Regiment failed in the 1990s, partly because of the distance between the respective bases: Venice and Brindisi.

In 2006, to establish closer cooperation between the two regiments, a Joint operations staff ("Forza Nazionale di Proiezione dal Mare") was established. The Italian Defense can fall back on the Army Lagunari and other support forces of the Army in cooperation with Navy units. The Navy San Marco unit can operate under Army control, if needed. Both organizations were used together for the first time, with support forces, in the UNIFIL operations after the 2006 Lebanon war as part of the Early Entry Force in September 2006: the Lagunari launched theirs AAVs from the Italian ship.

Italian Lagunari have long provided the Italian Armed Forces with a broad spectrum of response options when Italian and NATO interests have been threatened and in non-combat situations that require instant response to crisis. The Lagunari operates in rivers, bays, lagoons, across the littorals and ashore. The primary mission is to operate combat missions in the green water to shore and in the inland waters. Today, the Lagunari are the Italian Army’s amphibious troops. An elite force held at very high readiness, they are trained for worldwide rapid response, able to deal with a wide spectrum of threats and security challenges.

Until 2011 the Lagunari Regiment wore the black Army beret of the Italian Army with their own traditional and distinctive badge (sea anchor above two rifles). On returning from service in Afghanistan during ISAF, they received a new beret in 'lagoon green' water color, retaining the same badge.

The Lagunari are part of the Joint Forza di proiezione dal mare (National Sea Projection Capability), commanded by an Army General or a navy Rear admiral.

• Operation "Constant Forge" Sarajevo –BOSNIA (September – December 1998);
• Operation "Joint Guardian" Dakovica – KOSSOVO ( November 1999 – March 2000);
• Operation "Consistent Effort" Pec / Klina – KOSSOVO ( February – June 2001);
• Operation "Decisive Endeavour" Pec/Klina/Gorazdevac – KOSSOVO (2002-2003);
• Operation "Antica Babilonia" IRAQ ( June 2003 – March 2005);
• Operation "LEONTE" LEBANON ( August 2006 – April 2007);
• Operation "LEONTE 5" LEBANON ( August 2008 – April 2009);
• Operation "ISAF 15" AFGHANISTAN ( October 2010 – April 2011);
• Operation "LEONTE 14" LEBANON (May 2013 – October 2013).

In the videogame Call of Duty: Modern Warfare there is a skin for the player's soldier accurately representing a member of the Lagunari Regiment.

• Italian Navy: San Marco Marine Brigade

• [http://www.esercito.difesa.it/organizzazione/capo-di-sme/Comando-Forze-Operative-Nord/Divisione-Vittorio-Veneto/brigata-pozzuolo-del-friuli/Reggimento-Lagunari-Serenissima
• Lagunari Association