Giuseppe Cavo Dragone

Giuseppe Cavo Dragone (2020)

Giuseppe Cavo Dragone (born February 28, 1957 in Arquata Scrivia , Piedmont ) is an Italian admiral . Since June 2019 he has been Chief of the Admiralty's Staff in the Italian Navy .

Military career

Cavo Dragone completed officer training at the Accademia Navale from 1976 to 1980 . After a brief stint on the frigate Orsa , he was trained as an airplane and helicopter pilot in the United States . From 1981 he served on board the destroyer Ardito as a helicopter pilot, including on an assignment abroad after the 1982 Lebanon War . Until 1987 he flew from frigates of the Maestrale class from helicopters, after which he took over the minehunter Milazzo , with which he operated from September 1987 to March 1988 because of the tank war within the scope of the 18º Gruppo navale in the Persian Gulf . This was followed by retraining on the Sea King at the Sarzana-Luni military airfield . Shortly after graduation, Cavo Dragone was sent again to the United States, where he received training in vertical take-offs of the McDonnell Douglas AV-8 type with the United States Marine Corps , which the Italian Navy was able to procure for its flight deck cruiser Garibaldi thanks to a change in law in 1989 . In 1991 Cavo Dragone became the first squadron captain of the new Italian Harrier unit. In 1993 he returned to the USA for further training at the Harrier, after which he served in the air operations department at the fleet command in Santa Rosa near Rome. This was followed by admiral staff training in Livorno and a visit to the command academy of the armed forces in Rome. In September 1996 he took over the frigate Euro for one year , then again the Harrier squadron of the Aviazione Navale until 1998 . From 1999 to 2002 he headed the research and development department of the Admiral's staff in Rome. He then took over the Garibaldi light aircraft carrier until 2004 . Until June 2005 he took part in another course at the Armed Forces Leadership Academy and graduated from the University of Trieste with a degree in political science after graduating from the University of Pisa in 2002.

As a one-star admiral, Cavo Dragone commanded the Italian naval aviators from October 27, 2005 to September 5, 2008, and then the special forces of the navy from September 11, 2008 to October 12, 2011 . From October 13, 2011 to October 17, 2014 he headed the Naval Academy in Livorno. From November 3, 2014 to June 27, 2016, Cavo Dragone headed the Special Forces Task Force in Rome-Centocelle . On July 1, 2016, he took over the operational command of the armed forces as a three-star admiral at the same location from General Marco Bertolini . On June 21, 2019, Cavo Dragone succeeded Admiral Valter Girardelli to the post of Admiral's Chief of Staff.

Admiral Cavo Dragone is married and has three children.

Web links

• Official biography on the pages of the Italian Navy (English)