The battalion was formed during the 1975 army reform: on 1 August 1975 the XI Armored Battalion of the Infantry Brigade "Trieste" was renamed 11th Tank Battalion "M.O. Calzecchi". The 11th Calzecchi was granted a new war flag on 12 November 1976 by decree 846 of the President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone. The battalion received the traditions of the XI Tank Battalion "M", which had been formed by the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment on 30 April 1941. The battalion joined 133rd Tank Infantry Regiment and was sent to Italian Libya on 14 January 1942 to fight in the Western Desert Campaign. In Libya the battalion was transferred from the 133rd regiment to the 101st Motorised Division "Trieste" on 2 April 1942. The battalion entered the front during the Battle of Bir Hakeim and continued to serve in the North African theater until it was annihilated on 2 November 1942 during the Second Battle of El Alamein.