The battalion belongs to the Italian Army's Alpini infantry speciality and was assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Orobica".

In 1975 the 5th Alpini Regiment was disbanded and the "Tirano" battalion became an autonomous unit, which in 1976 was granted its own flag.

The battalion's anniversary falls on 26 January 1943, the day of the Battle of Nikolayevka, during which the 5th Alpini Regiment and 6th Alpini Regiment broke through Soviet lines and opened an escape route for the retreating troops of the Alpine Army Corps.

[3][4][5] On 1 November 1886, the Royal Italian Army's Alpini battalions changed their names from their recruiting zones to the cities and towns, where their base was located.

[3][4][5] In 1887-88 the "Tirano" battalion's 48th Alpini Company deployed to Massawa for the Italo-Ethiopian War of 1887–1889, which led to the establishment of the Italian colony of Eritrea.

[3][4][5][6][7] On 23 May 1915, Italy declared war on Austro-Hungary and the Alpini Battalion "Tirano" occupied position in the upper Valtellina.

[3][4][5][8] In April 1916, the "Tirano" battalion was transferred to the Julian Alps and fought on Monte Vršič and then on Krasji Vrh.

In January 1918, the battalion returned to the Asiago Plateau, where it fought on Col d'Echele and then on Monte Melago.

On 1 December 1923, the Gleno Dam collapsed and the regiment's Alpini Battalion "Tirano" was deployed to the affected area to search for survivors.

[3][4][5] In November 1940, the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" was transferred to Albania to shore up the crumbling Italian front during the Greco-Italian War.

[3][4][5][12][13] In July 1942 the three alpine division arrived in Eastern Ukraine, from where they marched eastwards towards the Don river.

[3][4][5][12][13][14] On the evening of 17 January 1943, the Alpine Army Corps commander, General Gabriele Nasci, ordered a full retreat.

The 40,000-strong mass of stragglers — Alpini and Italians from other commands, plus German and Hungarians — followed the "Tridentina", which led the way westwards to the new Axis lines.

On the morning of 26 January 1943, the spearheads of the "Tridentina' reached the hamlet of Nikolayevka, occupied by the Soviet 48th Guards Rifle Division.

General Nasci ordered a frontal assault and at 9:30 am the Battle of Nikolayevka began with the 6th Alpini Regiment leading the first attack.

By noon the Italian forces had reached the outskirts of the village and the Alpine Army Corps' Chief of Staff General Giulio Martinat led the 5th Alpini Regiment forward for another assault, durich which General Martinat fell.

[14] By sunset the Alpini battalions were still struggling to break the Soviet lines and in a last effort to decide the battle before nightfall General Luigi Reverberi, the commanding General of the "Tridentina" division, ordered a human wave attack on the Soviet lines.

[15] On 12 November 1976 the President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone granted the Alpini Battalion "Tirano" a new flag.