Maj. Jarrod Krull
First published in
SFOR Informer#170, April, 2004

While many of us in Multinational Brigade North have seen the Italian Carabinieri, part of the Multinational Specialized Unit (MSU), few are familiar with their history and mission.
For most military organizations around the world, peacekeeping is a relatively new concept. However, the Carabinieri have a long history of participating in peacekeeping operations. Victor Emanuel I, King of Sardinia, created the Carabinieri corps in 1814 to provide the Piedmont region with a police corps.
Initially part of the Italian Army, the Carabinieri are now a fourth branch of the Italian armed forces with 113,000 personnel. They have participated in every conflict that Italy has been involved with since its origin, starting with the Crimea in 1855 Since then, they have served, or are currently serving, as peacekeepers in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chile, China, Crete, Iraq, Kosovo, Namibia, Russia, San Marino, and Somalia.
In 1998, SFOR had many challenges in implementing the General Framework Agreement for Peace. These challenges brought about the need for the creation of the MSU. Due to its specialized training and organization, the Carabinieri took on a key role in developing the MSU concept.
The MSU is made of up of police officers with military training and is specially organized, trained and equipped to operate with local police and military forces. Four nations form the SFOR MSU: Italy (providing the bulk of MSU personnel), Hungary, Romania and Slovenia.
Under the operational control of the SFOR commander, the MSU provides a highly flexible force that is able to respond quickly to threat situations, in particular where public security and freedom of movement is in danger.
The MSU's key tasks in support of SFOR's mandate include: promoting public security, assisting in the return of displaced persons, supporting the installation of elected minority government and contributing to crisis control in coordination with the European Military Police Mission.
"Conventional forces are not always trained and equipped to respond to complex, civilian crisis situations that are at the core of most public security operations," said 1st. Lt. Andrea Corinaldesi, a Carabinieri platoon leader, whose platoon recently conducted an information gathering patrol in Zivinice just outside of Eagle Base.
The MSU specializes in the use of minimum force and employs individuals or small units with reconnaissance and information gathering patrols, relying on their negotiation skills to help maintain peace and stability.