General Claudio Graziano

Chief of Defence – Italy
2015

  • Last updated: 06 Jun. 2017 13:55

General Claudio Graziano was born on November 22nd, 1953 and he is currently the Chief of the Italian Defense General Staff.

Claudio Graziano, Chief of Defence of Italy

General Claudio Graziano was born on November 22nd, 1953 and he is currently the Chief of the Italian Defense General Staff.

In 1974, upon the completion of his military and academic education, General Graziano was commissioned as an "Alpini" (Mountain Troops) Infantry Officer and he spent the first part of his career serving units in TRIDENTINA and in TAURINENSE Brigade, the latter permanently earmarked as a national contribution to NATO AMF(L).

In 1990, after being promoted Lieutenant Colonel, he served for two years as Military Assistant to the Army Chief of General Staff.

In 1992, he took command of SUSA Alpini Battalion and soon after was deployed to Mozambique - Operation UNOMOZ, leading the United Nations Battalion in charge of the control of Beira Corridor.

As Colonel, after serving two years as 2nd Alpini Regiment Commanding Officer, he was reassigned to Army General Staff as Chief Plans and Policy Office; in this role, he followed the modernization of the Army and its transition from a conscript to a fully professional model.

In 2001 he was posted to Washington D.C as Military Attaché.

In August 2004, he became Commanding General, TAURINENSE Alpini Brigade in Turin, a position he held until February 2006. During this period, he was deployed to Afghanistan as Commander, Kabul Multinational Brigade (KMNB) within NATO ISAF VIII from July 2005 to February 2006.

In March 2006 he was assigned to the Italian Joint Operations Headquarters (JOHQ), as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.

On January 2007 the Secretary General of the United Nations appointed Major General Graziano as UNIFIL Head of Mission and Force Commander. He has led the UN mission for three years, from February 2007 to January 2010.

Following his promotion to Lieutenant General, he was appointed Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Defence on February 2010.

On December 2011 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Italian Army.

On 28th of February 2015, he was promoted to General and assumed the role of Chief of the Italian Defence General Staff.

A graduate of Italian Army Staff College and United States Army War College in Carlisle, General Graziano holds two BA - one in Strategic Military Studies from the University of Turin and one in Diplomatic Sciences from the University of Trieste -, and two Master degrees, one in Human Sciences from the Catholic University in Rome and one in Strategic Military Sciences.

A keen and passionate skier, General Graziano is a military skiing instructor and an expert in mountain and arctic warfare.

General Graziano currently lives in Rome and he is married with Mrs Marisa Lanucara