The 80th Volunteer Training Regiment "Roma" () is an active unit of the Italian Army based in Cassino in Lazio. The regiment is named for the city of Rome and was part of the Italian Army's infantry arm until it became a training unit and was redesignated as a "multi-arms unit".
The regiment was one of sixteen infantry regiments formed on 1 November 1884. During World War I the regiment fought on the Italian front. The regiment was disbanded in 1926 and reformed in May 1937. During World War II the regiment was assigned to the 9th Infantry Division "Pasubio", with which it participated in the invasion of Yugoslavia. In July 1941 the Pasubio division was assigned to the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia and the regiment fought in Donbas in Ukraine and along the Don river in southern Russia. In December 1942 the division and regiment were destroyed during the Soviet Operation Little Saturn. For its conduct in Ukraine and Russia the regiment was awarded two times Italy's highest military honor the Gold Medal of Military Valour. In 1958 the regiment was reformed as a training unit, which was reduced to a battalion sized unit at the end of 1975. In 1992 the regiment was reformed and has been active as the training unit of the Non-Commissioned Officers School since then.
History
Formation
On 1 November 1884 the 80th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Roma") was formed in Rome with companies ceded by the 6th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Aosta"), 8th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Cuneo"), 38th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Ravenna"), 44th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Forlì"), and 74th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Lombardia"). On the same day the 79th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Roma") was formed in Rome with companies ceded by the sister regiments of the above listed regiments. Both regiments consisted of a staff and three battalions, with four companies per battalion. Together the two regiments formed the Brigade "Rome".
In 1895-96 the regiment provided three officers and 118 enlisted for units deployed to Italian Eritrea for the First Italo-Ethiopian War. In 1911-12 the regiment provided 17 officers and 1,452 enlisted to augment units fighting in the Italo-Turkish War.
World War I
At the outbreak of World War I the regiment consisted of three battalions, each of which fielded four fusiliers companies and one machine gun section. After Italy's entry into the war on 23 May 1915 the Brigade "Roma" was deployed to the Italian front: in 1915 the regiment operated against Austro-Hungarian forces in the Vallarsa valley. In May 1916 the regiment fought in the Battle of Asiago in the area of Trambileno. In June and July of the same year the regiment fought for control of the Corno di Coston. On 24 May 1916 the regimental depot of the 80th Infantry Regiment in Verona formed the command of the Brigade "Rovigo" and the 227th Infantry Regiment (Brigade "Rovigo"). In 1917 the regiment operated in the Val Posina until it was transferred in July to the Banjšice plateau where the regiment fought in August 1917 in the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo in the area of Kal nad Kanalom. In October 1917 the regiment fought in the Battle of Caporetto. In June 1918 the Brigade "Roma" fought in the Second Battle of the Piave River at Monastier and in October the brigade was deployed on Monte Grappa, where it fought in the decisive Battle of Vittorio Veneto. For their conduct on the Piave river and on Monte Grappa the two regiments of the Brigade "Roma" were both awarded a Bronze Medal of Military Valour.
Interwar years
On 31 October 1926 the 80th Infantry Regiment was disbanded and its two battalions transferred to the 231st Infantry Regiment "Avellino" and 232nd Infantry Regiment "Avellino". On 20 December of the same year the 79th Infantry Regiment was renamed 79th Infantry Regiment "Roma", while the Brigade "Roma" was renamed IX Infantry Brigade and assigned to the 9th Territorial Division of Verona. The IX Infantry Brigade also included the 49th Infantry Regiment "Parma" and 57th Infantry Regiment "Abruzzi".