With the
1975 Italian Army reform the regimental level was abolished and battalions came under direct command of multi-arms brigades. At the same time the army reduced and realigned its forces and therefore the Cadore saw some changes to its composition: the 7th Alpini Regiment, 6th Mountain Artillery Regiment, and Mountain Artillery Group "Pieve di Cadore" were disbanded, while the brigade headquarters and the signal company were merged to form the Command and Signal Unit "Cadore". Additionally an anti-tank company was raised, the Light Aircraft Unit "Cadore" was transferred to the newly formed 4th Army Light Aviation Regiment "Altair" of the
4th Army Corps, the Services Grouping "Cadore" was reorganized as a logistic battalion, the Alpini Battalion "Belluno" became a training unit, and the Alpini Battalion "Val Cismon" was reduced to 264th Alpini Company "Val Cismon". After the reform the brigade's two Alpini battalions had an authorized strength of 950 men, while the two artillery groups had an authorized strength of 610 men and fielded 18
M56 105 mm pack
howitzers each. The new composition was: •
Alpine Brigade "Cadore", in
Belluno • Command and Signal Unit "Cadore", in Belluno •
Alpini Battalion "Feltre", in
Feltre • Headquarters and Service Company • 64th Alpini Company • 65th Alpini Company • 66th Alpini Company • 125th Heavy Mortar Company •
Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Cadore", in
Tai di Cadore • Headquarters and Service Company • 67th Alpini Company • 68th Alpini Company • 75th Alpini Company in
Santo Stefano di Cadore • 167th Heavy Mortar Company •
Alpini (Recruits Training) Battalion "Belluno", in
Belluno • Headquarters and Service Company • 92nd Alpini (Training) Company • 127th Alpini (Training) Company • 141st Alpini (Training) Company • 142nd Alpini (Training) Company •
Mountain Artillery Group "Lanzo", in Belluno • Headquarters and Service Battery • 16th Mountain Artillery Battery • 44th Mountain Artillery Battery • 47th Mountain Artillery Battery •
Mountain Artillery Group "Agordo", in
Bassano del Grappa • Headquarters and Service Battery • 41st Mountain Artillery Battery • 42nd Mountain Artillery Battery • 43rd Mountain Artillery Battery •
Logistic Battalion "Cadore", in Belluno • Command and Services Platoon • 1st Light Logistic Unit • 2nd Light Logistic Unit • Medium Logistic Unit • 264th Alpini Company "Val Cismon", in
Santo Stefano di Cadore (transferred on 1 November 1976 to the
Alpini Battalion "Val Brenta" of the
Alpine Brigade "Tridentina") • Anti-tank Company "Cadore", in Belluno • Engineer Company "Cadore", in Belluno
Strategic plans in case of war After the 1975 reform the 4th Alpine Army Corps was responsible to defend the Italian border along the
main chain of the alps from the
Swiss-
Austrian-Italian border
tripoint in the west to the Italian-
Yugoslavian border in the east. In case of war with Yugoslavia the 4th Alpine Army Corps would remain static in its position guarding the left flank of the
5th Army Corps, which would meet the enemy forces in the plains of
Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The only brigade which would have seen combat in such a case would have been the
Julia. In case of a war with the
Warsaw Pact the 4th Alpine Army Corps had two war planes: one in the case the Soviet
Southern Group of Forces and
Hungarian Army would march through Yugoslavia and the other in case the Warsaw Pact would violate the
Austrian neutrality and march through Austria. In case the enemy forces would come through Yugoslavia, the Julia would cover the mountainous left flank of the 5th Army Corps, which with its four armoured and five mechanized brigades would try to wear down the enemy before it could break out into the North Italian
Padan plain. The other alpine brigades would remain static. In the more likely case the Soviet and Hungarian divisions would invade Austria and march through Southern
Styria and through the
Drava Valley in
Carinthia the alpine brigades would have been the first front line units of the Italian Army. The
Julia would have defended the
Canal Valley and the
Tridentina the
Puster Valley, while the
Orobica had a special mission and the
Taurinense would remain in reserve. The Cadore was stationed between the Julia and the Tridentina brigades and tasked with defending the
Piave Valley. If the Soviet forces would have advanced along the Drava Valley they would have reached the Italian border at
Winnebach in the
Puster Valley which was defended by the Alpini Battalion "Bassano" of the Tridentina. The Tridentina was tasked to defend the
Puster Valley, however if Soviet forces would turn south after crossing the border they would have been able to reach the Piave Valley through the
Sexten Valley and over the
Kreuzbergpass or through the
Höhlensteintal and over the
Cimabanche Pass. Therefore, the Cadore's
Alpini Battalion "Pieve di Cadore" based in
Tai di Cadore was tasked with holding the Kreuzbergpass and Cimabanche pass. The "Pieve di Cadore" was supported by the Mountain Artillery Group "Lanzo" based in
Belluno. The second battalion of the brigade, the
Alpini Battalion "Feltre" based in
Feltre along with the Mountain Artillery Group "Agordo" based in
Bassano del Grappa was tasked to cover the many
Dolomite mountain passes on the left flank of the "Pieve di Cadore" battalion. To aid in the defence of the narrow mountain valleys the 4th Army Corps re-activated some fortifications of the World War II era
Alpine Wall. In the area of operation of the Cadore the 264th Alpini Company "Val Cismon" based in
Santo Stefano di Cadore was tasked with maintaining the Alpine Wall fortifications on the
Kreuzbergpass, in the
Höhlensteintal and near
Prags. In wartime the fortifications would have been manned as follows: •
Kreuzbergpass: 7 bunker, 247 men from the 264th Company (Italian Wikipedia:
Sbarramento Passo Monte Croce Comelico) •
Val Frison: 3 bunker, ? men from the 265th (Reserve) Company (Italian Wikipedia:
Sbarramento Val Frison) •
Landro Nord: 3 bunker, 150 men from the 277th (Reserve) Company (Italian Wikipedia:
Sbarramento della Val di Landro) •
Prags: 2 bunkers, 116 men from the 347th (Reserve) Company (Italian Wikipedia:
Sbarramento di Braies) Administratively the 264th Alpini Company "Val Cismon" fell under the
Alpini Battalion "Val Brenta" of the Tridentina brigade. On 23 August 1986 the company was disbanded and the bunkers stripped of their equipment. == 1991 Reorganization ==