The first Italian paratrooper units were trained and formed shortly before World War II in Castel Benito, near Tripoli in Libya, where the first Military Parachuting School was located.

[1] The new structure was as follows: The division was then sent to Italian Libya to bolster Axis forces in the Western Desert campaign.

Additionally a seventh battery was formed with surplus materiel found by the division during its transfer to the front.

During the latter division put up a fierce defense against advancing Allied forces, managing to drive off repeated assaults conducted by tanks and infantry working in unison.

Subsequently, the remnants of the "Nembo" were used to form the Combat Group "Folgore" of the Italian Co-Belligerent Army in 1944.

After World War II the Combat Group "Folgore" became one of the Italian Army's first divisions and by 1954 one of the strongest.

On 1 April 1964 the brigade lost the Paratroopers Training Center in Pisa to the army's Infantry and Cavalry Inspectorate.

[1] On 1 January 1986, the "Folgore" brigade and the Motorized Brigade "Friuli", in conjunction with some units of the Army's Light Army Aviation and the Navy's San Marco Regiment, became the Rapid Intervention Forces of the Italian Military, deployable on short notice for out of area missions.

The same year on 31 August the 185th Paratroopers Artillery Regiment "Folgore" retired its howitzers and began its conversion to a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol Special Operations unit.

[1] In March 2001, the brigade lost its logistic battalion and the 26th Light Airplanes and Helicopters Squadron "Giove" and when in 2002 the Carabinieri were separated from the Army to become the Fourth Armed Force of Italy the 1st Carabinieri Paratroopers Regiment "Tuscania" left the brigade.

The brigade deployed twice to Afghanistan in support of ISAF – once in 2009 and once in 2011 With the 2013 reform the "Folgore" changed its composition significantly.

The maneuver support companies of the paratrooper regiments are equipped with 120 mm mortars and Spike anti-tank guided missile systems.