Francesco Paolo Figliuolo

General Francesco Paolo Figliuolo has gained extensive experience and held a wide range of posts within the Army, in joint forces and at international level.
As a mountain artillery officer, he gained his very first command experience with the ‘AOSTA’ Artillery Group in Saluzzo (CN), before becoming its Commander at the headquarters in Fossano (CN) from 1999 to 2000, a period during which he led the unit on a mission to Kosovo, in the Serbian enclave of Goradzevac (Pèc).
Commander of the 1st Mountain Artillery Regiment in Fossano from 2004 to 2005, from September 2009 to October 2010 he served as Deputy Commander of the “TAURINENSE” Brigade, before taking over command without interruption until October 2011.

The posts he has held throughout his career have enabled him to gain experience in all areas of the Armed Forces: in the basic and advanced training of Army officers at the Application School in Turin, in operational planning within NATO at Joint Command South in Verona, and in logistics and procurement, serving as Head of the 4th Logistics Department at the Army General Staff from August 2015 to May 2016.
Of particular note is his international experience as Military Representative of the National Authority and Commander of the national contingent in Afghanistan, as part of Operation ISAF (October 2004 – February 2005), and as Commander of NATO Forces in Kosovo – COMKFOR 19 (September 2014 – August 2015).

From May 2016 to November 2018, he served as Chief of the General Staff Office of the Chief of the Defence Staff, gaining significant experience in joint operations at the highest level.
From 7 November 2018 to 26 December 2021, he served as Logistics Commander of the Army.
Since 26 December 2021, he has been Joint Forces Operational Commander.
On 1 March 2021, he was appointed by decree of the Prime Minister as Special Commissioner for the implementation and coordination of the measures required to contain and combat the COVID-19 epidemiological emergency.

Born in Potenza, he is married to Mrs Enza and has two sons: Salvatore and Federico.

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
During his career, General Figliuolo has obtained the following qualifications:
• a degree in Political Science from theUniversità di Salerno;
• a degree in Strategic Sciences and a related Level 2 Master’s degree from the Università di Torino;
• a degree in International and Diplomatic Sciences from the Università di Trieste.
He also attended the 119th General Staff Advanced Course, the 3rd Joint General Staff Advanced Course and the 92nd Senior Course at the NATO Defence College in Rome.
He is also the author of numerous articles on regional analysis and geopolitics for specialist defence publications (Informazioni della Difesa published by the Defence General Staff and Rivista Militare dell’Esercito Italiano).

AWARDS
• Knight of the Military Order of Italy;
• Gold Cross and Silver Cross of Merit of the Army;
• Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic;
• Knight of the Order of Pope Saint Sylvester;
• NATO Meritorious Service Medal;
• Gold Cross of Honour of the Bundeswehr;
• Legion of Merit of the United States of America.

MAIN INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS/MISSIONS ABROAD
• May ’99 – September ’99: Logistics Officer at the SFOR Multinational Command in Sarajevo;
• March 2000 – July 2000: Commander of ‘Task Force Istrice’ in Goradzevac (Peć), Joint Guardian mission in Kosovo;
• October 2004 – February 2005: Commander of the National Contingent in Afghanistan, ISAF operation;
• September 2014 – August 2015: Force Commander of the NATO mission – KFOR – in Kosovo.