NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy

NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy
NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy
	Coat of arms
Active	2001–present
Branch	Italian Army
Part of	Allied Command Operations, Casteau, Belgium
Location	Milan & Solbiate Olona, Italy
Motto(s)	Ubique Celere
Website	https://www.nrdc-ita.nato.int/1/HOME
Commanders
Current; commander	Lieutenant General Lorenzo D'Addario

The NATO Rapid Deployable Corps – Italy (NRDC-ITA) is a multi-national corps headquarters of the Italian Army. It was established in November 2001 as a High Readiness Force (HRF) of NATO. The staff of NRDC-ITA is located in Solbiate Olona, a few kilometers northwest of Milan. The Ugo Mara barracks at Solbiate Olona is the operational center of the command structure and the Support Brigade while the institutional center is located in Palazzo Cusani, in the center of Milan.

History

In 1997, in the wake of a major restructuring of the Italian Army, the 3rd Army Corps was transformed into the Projection Forces Command (COMFOP) in command and control of three brigades, which were characterized by high mobility and deployability.^[1] However already on 1 December 2000 the 3rd Army Corps ceded its last brigades to the 1st Defence Forces Command (COMFOD 1°) and with its personnel the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Italy was raised in January 2001.^[2]

Structure

NRDC-ITA is operationally led by NATO's Joint Force Command Headquarters in Naples or Brunssum. Its staff comprises soldiers from 20 NATO member states, but the Commander and a large part of the staff are Italian. Normally, the Corps commands only a support brigade, but it can command further support units as well as a number of divisions or brigades.^[2]