Editing Paratrooper (section)

=== Italy ===
{{Main|Paracadutisti}}
[[Image:2june 2007 172.jpg|thumb|upright|Italian paratroopers of the [[Carabinieri Regiment "Tuscania"]]]]
[[File:Sky Soldiers , Italian allies conduct Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise in Pordenone 150114-A-MM054-020.jpg|thumb|Paratroopers of the [[Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore"]]]]

The first units of Italian parachutists were trained and formed shortly before the Second World War in [[RAF Castel Benito|Castel Benito]], near [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] ([[Italian Libya|Libya]]), where the first Military school of Parachuting was located. They were two native battalions of the [[:it:Regio corpo truppe coloniali della Libia|Royal Libyan Troops Corps]] and two battalions of Italian troops, later joined by the [[Carabinieri Regiment "Tuscania"|Carabinieri Paratroopers Battalion]].

Moved back to Italy in 1941, the staff of the Castel Benito school was expanded into the Paratroopers School at [[Tarquinia]] and became a massive training program. In 1941, a Parachutist division was completed and was designated the [[185th Infantry Division "Folgore"]].  It was trained for the assault on [[Malta]] but was used instead in ground combat operations in the [[North African Campaign]], where it fought with great distinction during the [[Second battle of El Alamein]], effectively stalling the southern part of the Commonwealth attack until the general retreat of the Axis forces, when it was destroyed.

Another major paratroopers division was formed during 1942 (the 184th Infantry Division "Nembo") and a third had started forming in 1943 (the 184th Parachute Division "Ciclone"). After the [[Armistice of Cassibile|September 8th 1943 Armistice]], elements of the "Nembo" division joined the Allies against the germans as part of the [[Italian Liberation Corps]] (''Corpo Italiano di Liberazione'') and later as part of the [[Combat Group "Folgore"]] (''Gruppo di Combattimento "Folgore"'') of the [[Italian Co-belligerent Army]]. Other scattered elements joined the [[Italian Social Republic]], where they formed several Parachute units that continued to operate alongside the Germans against the Allies, fighting with distinction during the [[Battle of Anzio]].

After WW2, the [[Italian Army]] conscripted the [[Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore"]], currently the largest unit of paratroopers of the [[Italian Army]]. The Brigade operates as [[Light Infantry]] with airborne drop and air transport capability with secondary light mechanized capabilities, as part of the [[:it:Divisione "Vittorio Veneto"|"Vittorio Veneto" Division]], the on-call divisional HQ controlling the rapid reaction components of the [[Italian Army]].

In 1982 the Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" landed in [[Beirut]] with the [[Multinational Force in Lebanon]]. In 1991, a Parachutist Tactical group was deployed to [[Kurdistan]]. Its mission was to provide humanitarian aid. From July 1992, the Brigade supplied personnel to the "Vespri Siciliani" and later "Strade Sicure" internal security operations. The Folgore participated in [[Operation Restore Hope]] in [[Somalia]] from 3 December 1992 to September 1993. Parts of the Brigade have been employed many times in the [[Balkans]] (IFOR/SFOR in [[Bosnia]] and KFOR in [[Kosovo]]), with MNF in [[Albania]] and [[INTERFET]] in [[East Timor]]. The Folgore participated from August 2005 to September 2005 in [[Operation Opera|Operation Babylon]] in [[Iraq]] and to December 2014 in [[Afghanistan]]. In August 2007, the Folgore took part in [[United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon]], under aegis of the [[United Nations]] (Resolution 1701), as a result of the war between [[Israel]] and [[Hezbollah]] of summer 2006. The Paratroopers Brigade "Folgore" is still mainly deployed abroad in international stabilization and peacekeeping operation, on rotation with the other elite units of the [[Italian Army]].

Other paratroopers units operate as part of the [[Army Special Forces Command (Italy)|Army Special Forces Command]] and of the other Special Forces components provided by the [[Comando Raggruppamento Subacquei e Incursori Teseo Tesei|Navy]], [[17th Raiders Wing|Air Force]] and [[1st Carabinieri Paratroopers Regiment "Tuscania"|Carabinieri]].