The Multinational Specialized Unit (MSU), is a unit of the Italian Carabinieri, dedicated to the military missions abroad, including the military and civilian police tasks, peacekeeping operations, crowd and riot control.

After its creation in 1998, MSU units took part in many different NATO operations, in Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina and Iraq.

History

Initially it has employed members of the 7th Carabinieri Regiment "Trentino-Alto Adige", the 13th Carabinieri Regiment "Friuli-Venezia Giulia" and the 1st Parachute Carabinieri Regiment "Tuscania". During the next years it has employed members from all over Italy, from every other Carabinieri units.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The first mission where MSU was involved was the NATO-SFOR, in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars. MSU was composed by Italian Carabinieri and members of the Romanian Military Police, among soldiers of Austria, Hungary and Slovenia.

Albania

After the tension in the Balkan area, during the Yugoslav Wars, in particular in the northern part of Kosovo a MSU detachment was deployed in Albania during Operation Allied Harbor, to aid the country in the refugees management. The mission was codenamed AFOR.

Iraq

During the NATO Mission, inside the Multi-National Force – Iraq, MSU was deployed alongside other Italians units. The Italian Mission codename was Operation Ancient Babylon. MSU was composed by Italian Carabinieri, Italian Army liaison officers, members of Romanian Military Police and Portuguese National Republican Guard. During the mission MSU suffered heavy losses, in particular for the 2003 Nasiriyah bombing.

MSU-IRAQ Commanders Col. Georg Di Pauli (June–November 2003) Col. Carmelo Burgio (November 2003–March 2004) Col. Luciano Zubani (2004) Col. Claudio D'Angelo (2004) Col. Paolo Nardone (2004–2005) Col. Sebastiano Comitini (2005–2006) ...

Kosovo

Since 1999, after the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, MSU has been deployed into Kosovo for peacekeeping operations within NATO-KFOR. After years it's still present in the theatre, contributing to maintain peace and stability in the country.

From 1999 to 2013 the French National Gendarmerie, Estonian Military Police and Austrian Military Police were also part of the MSU. Since 2013 it is composed entirely of the Italian Carabinieri and its main mission is to patrol the entire city of Mitrovica 24/7, in particular the New Bridge.

Since 2022 a unit of Army of the Czech Republic Military Police is part of the MSU regiment.

The KFOR-MSU Regiment is commanded by Italian Carabinieri Colonel Gianfranco Di Fiore

KFOR-MSU Commanders +Commanders listPrecedenceCommanderPortraitStart of tenureEnd of tenure1Col. Vincenzo Coppola, ITAJuly 22, 1999July 18, 20002Col. Leonardo Leso, ITAJuly 19, 2000April 23, 20013Col. Emanuele Garelli, ITAApril 24, 2001May 3, 20024Col. Georg Di Pauli, ITAMay 4, 2002June 9, 20035Col. Claudio Cordella, ITAJune 10, 2003July 22, 20046Col. Giuseppe Lanzillotti, ITAJuly 23, 2004July 28, 20057Col. Flavio Garello, ITAJuly 29, 2005August 23, 20068Col. Domenico Libertini, ITAAugust 24, 2006August 26, 20079Col. Andrea Guglielmi, ITAAugust 27, 2007September 10, 200810Col. Angelo De Quarto, ITASeptember 11, 2008September 8, 200911Col. Gianni Massimo Cuneo, ITASeptember 9, 2009September 8, 201012Col. Eduardo Russo, ITASeptember 9, 2010September 8, 201113Col. Mauro Isidori, ITASeptember 9, 2011December 1, 201214Col. Mario Di Iulio, ITADecember 2, 2012December 7, 201315Col. Gregorio De Marco, ITADecember 8, 2013February 11, 201516Col. Francesco Maria Chiaravallotti, ITAFebruary 12, 2015October 13, 201517Col. Paolo Coletta, ITAOctober 14, 2015October 13, 201618Col. Fabio Cagnazzo, ITAOctober 14, 2016September 11, 201719Col. Marco DI Stefano, ITASeptember 12, 2017September 14, 201820Col. Ruggiero Capodivento, ITASeptember 15, 2018October 16, 201921Col. Paolo Pelosi, ITAOctober 17, 2019...22Col. Enio Simone, ITA......23Col. Stefano Fedele, ITAFebruary 02, 2021January 27, 2022Kfor - MSU Com 202124Col. Maurizio Mele, ITAJanuary 28, 2022January 26, 202325Col. Massimo Cucchini, ITAJanuary 26, 2023February 7, 202326Gen. B. Ruggiero Capodivento, ITAFebruary 8, 2023February 9, 202427Col. Massimo Rosati, ITAFebruary 10, 2024March 7, 202528Col. Alberto Santini, ITAMarch 8, 2025January 13, 202629Col. Gianfranco Di Fiore, ITAJanuary 14, 2026present + Commanders list PrecedenceCommanderPortraitStart of tenureEnd of tenure 1 Col. Vincenzo Coppola, ITA July 22, 1999 July 18, 2000 2 Col. Leonardo Leso, ITA July 19, 2000 April 23, 2001 3 Col. Emanuele Garelli, ITA April 24, 2001 May 3, 2002 4 Col. Georg Di Pauli, ITA May 4, 2002 June 9, 2003 5 Col. Claudio Cordella, ITA June 10, 2003 July 22, 2004 6 Col. Giuseppe Lanzillotti, ITA July 23, 2004 July 28, 2005 7 Col. Flavio Garello, ITA July 29, 2005 August 23, 2006 8 Col. Domenico Libertini, ITA August 24, 2006 August 26, 2007 9 Col. Andrea Guglielmi, ITA August 27, 2007 September 10, 2008 10 Col. Angelo De Quarto, ITA September 11, 2008 September 8, 2009 11 Col. Gianni Massimo Cuneo, ITA September 9, 2009 September 8, 2010 12 Col. Eduardo Russo, ITA September 9, 2010 September 8, 2011 13 Col. Mauro Isidori, ITA September 9, 2011 December 1, 2012 14 Col. Mario Di Iulio, ITA December 2, 2012 December 7, 2013 15 Col. Gregorio De Marco, ITA December 8, 2013 February 11, 2015 16 Col. Francesco Maria Chiaravallotti, ITA February 12, 2015 October 13, 2015 17 Col. Paolo Coletta, ITA October 14, 2015 October 13, 2016 18 Col. Fabio Cagnazzo, ITA October 14, 2016 September 11, 2017 19 Col. Marco DI Stefano, ITA September 12, 2017 September 14, 2018 20 Col. Ruggiero Capodivento, ITA September 15, 2018 October 16, 2019 21 Col. Paolo Pelosi, ITA October 17, 2019 ... 22 Col. Enio Simone, ITA ... ... 23 Col. Stefano Fedele, ITA February 02, 2021 January 27, 2022Kfor - MSU Com 2021 24 Col. Maurizio Mele, ITA January 28, 2022 January 26, 2023 25 Col. Massimo Cucchini, ITA January 26, 2023 February 7, 2023 26 Gen. B. Ruggiero Capodivento, ITA February 8, 2023 February 9, 2024 27 Col. Massimo Rosati, ITA February 10, 2024 March 7, 2025 28 Col. Alberto Santini, ITA March 8, 2025 January 13, 2026 29 Col. Gianfranco Di Fiore, ITA January 14, 2026 present

KFOR-MSU Vehicles Land Rover Defender 90 Land Rover Defender 110 Land Rover Defender Ambulance Fiat Ducato Ambulance Land Rover Discovery series II and IV Mitsubishi Pajero Iveco ACM 80/90 Iveco C-17 Iveco Daily VM90P Iveco RG-12 Iveco LMV

See also Carabinieri Peacekeeping Carabinieri Mobile Units Division 1st Carabinieri Mobile Brigade 2nd Carabinieri Mobile Brigade Kosovo Force SFOR Operation Ancient Babylon 2003 Nasiriyah bombing Yugoslav Wars

References

External links