Lieutenant

Salvatore FARINA

Chief

of the

General Staff

In the course of his career, General Salvatore Farina has gained a wide range of experience across the institutional, operational, inter-service spectrum. He has developed his leadership and command skills together with a profound knowledge of the Army and a genuine inter-service spirit thanks to his active role over the last 20 years in the operations and planning areas, in the relations among the and between the Italian Defence and NATO and the EU.

Commander of detached and stand-alone Company for 7 years, Commander of Signal Battalion deployed NATO mission in Bosnia, served as SO2 G3 at the 3rd UK Division, Chief Joint Operations Centre, Chief of Army Staff Plans Office, Commander of Signal Brigade, Chief of Defence Staff Department Policy Strategy, Commander of NATO Forces in – COM KFOR 18, Chief of the Army Land Forces Transformation Department, Chairman of the Steering Committee for the implementation of the Defence White Paper.

From 4 March 2016 to 21 February 2018 General Farina was Commander of the NATO Joint Force Command Brunssum (The ). He is the first Italian Officer to have assumed the role of NATO 4 star Commander of a Joint Operations Command.

He is married to Amelia Gianna and has two daughters, Elisa e Nicoletta, and two granddaughters, Flaminia and Diletta.

SUMMARY OF NATIONAL COMMAND ASSIGNMENTS - 1980-1989: and Company Commander of 33rd Electronic Warfare Battalion and of Alpine Army Corps’ 7th Company in Bassano del Grappa; - 1995-1996: Commander of Signal Battalion “Leonessa” in Civitavecchia; - 2000-2001: Commander of 1st Signal Regiment in Milan, he took care of modernizing the unit and putting it under the command of NATO Rapid Reaction forces; - 2007-2008: Commander of Signal Brigade in Anzio (Rome).

SUMMARY OF STAFF POSTS IN THE ITALIAN ARMY - 1994-1995: Operations Officer of the Brigade “Ariete” in Pordenone; - 2001-2004: Chief of the Army General Staff’s Plans Office in Rome, responsible of key projects such as the professionalization and reorganization of the Army in view of the new missions.

SUMMARY OF JOINT SERVICE ASSIGNMENTS - 1996-1999: Chief of the Defence General Staff’s Joint Operations Centre. In this role he planned and directed all operations of our Armed Forces in Bosnia, , Macedonia, Kosovo, East Timor; - 2008-2010: Deputy Chief of Defence General Staff’s Department responsible of joint service General Plans; - 2011-2013: Chief of Defence General Staff’s Department Policy Strategy. During this period he played a fundamental role in the review process of the Italian Military; - 2015-2016: Chairman of the Leading Committee for the implementation of the Defence White Paper.

SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL AND OPERATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS - 1989-1990: Chief of Section Training and Security of the JSG of NATO Command (FTASE), Verona; - 1992-1993: Staff Officer (SO 2 OPS/PLANS) at 3rd UK Division – United Kingdom; - 1995-1996: Commander Signal Battalion “Leonessa” in Operation “Joint Endeavour”, Bosnia- IFOR; - 2004-2007: Military attaché at the Italian Embassy in London; - 2013-2014: Commander of NATO Operation “Joint Enterprise” – COMKFOR 18; - 2016-2018: Commader of NATO Joint Force Command, Brunssum (The Netherlands).

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS - He completed the 158th course of the Accademia Militare in Modena, and Army and inter-service advanced staff courses at the Scuola di Applicazione (officers’ school) in Turin, the Scuola di Guerra (war college) and the ISSMI (Joint Services Staff College); - He attended the 26 British Army Staff College in Camberley, UK; - Degree in Electrotechnical Engineering from the University of Padova; - Degree in Strategic Sciences from the Scuola di Applicazione – University of Turin; - Degree in International politics and diplomatic relations from the University of Trieste; - Master degree in Defence Resource Management from the USA’s DRM Institute in Monterey, California; - Master degree for General Managers of the Ministry of Defence from Link Campus, Rome; - He holds a parachutist license and a military physical training instructor certificate.

Several specialized magazines have published his articles on defence themes, both in (Rivista Militare, Informazioni della Difesa, Tecnologia e Difesa) and in the United Kingdom (British Army Review, Defence Review).

NATIONAL DECORATIONS - Knight's Cross of the Military Order of ltaly; - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic; - Mauritian Medal of Merit for fifty years of Military Career; - Silver Medal of Merit for Long Command; - Commemorative Medal for peacekeeping missions; - Knight of the Constantinian Order of Saint George. INTERNATIONAL DECORATIONS - NATO Meritorious Service Medal; - Legion of Merit Medal, USA; - Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur, - NATO Commemorative Medal for operations in ; - NATO Commemorative Medal for operations in Kosovo; - Portuguese Commemorative Medal for Special Services; - Slovenian Medal for International cooperation (1st degree); - Albanian Medal of Distinguished Service; - Medal of Merit of the President of Kosovo; - Medal of Merit of the Hungarian ; - Medal of Merit of the .