General Luciano Portolano will take the place of General Nicolo Falsaperna at the helm of the General Secretariat of Defense and of the National Armaments Directorate. According to Formiche.net, the Council of Ministers, meeting at Palazzo Chigi under the presidency of Prime Minister Mario Draghi , decided this on the proposal of Minister Lorenzo Guerini . WHO IS LUCIANO PORTOLANO
Born in 1960, from Agrigento, General of the Italian Army Corps, Portolano and since 2019 at the head of the Joint Chief Operating Officer, recently passed from “Coi” to “Covi” (with the fourth star for its commander) to become the point of connection for all the operational components of the Italian Armed Forces, including the new ones, space and cybernetics. A real revolution (which we have told here) within the high-level strategic setting of National Defense, which is evolving from the logic of the inter-force embracing the doctrine of multi-domain. Portolano had already been at the Coi for the leadership of the Operations Department from 2012 to 2014, before passing to the command of the United Nations Interposition Force in Lebanon (Unifil). During his career, he has worked in Kuwait, Kosovo,Barack Obama of the prestigious Legion of Merit. In September 2016 and instead approved in Naples, to fill the role of Chief of Staff of the NATO Allied Joint Force Command in Naples. THE TASKS
Now he will take the place of General Nicolo Falsaperna , who reached the top of SegreDifesa / Dna (succeeding Carlo Magrassi) in September 2018, and therefore reached the end of the three-year assignment, which cannot be extended after the last reform. The structure subject to rotation has the task of implementing all the directives of the minister in matters of high administration, direction and coordination of defense activities. SegreDifesa is also responsible for managing financial resources, as well as the task of translating political decisions into contractual and administrative activities. The role in terms of arms policy is equally delicate. And in fact, the National Direction has put into practice the definition and direction of the study, research and development, acquisition and production activities (“also in a context of international cooperation”) aimed at providing the Armed Forces with the necessary means and materials to carry out their mission.THE CHALLENGES
All this passes through the difficult task of harmonizing the objectives of Defense with those of development and production of the national industry, which is also the responsibility of the Secretary General of Defense and National Director of Armaments, which has become a priority for the dicastery of Lorenzo Guerini ., merged at the end of July into the first ministerial directive on industrial defense policy. A delicate task will therefore go to Portolano. In the field of Defense, important challenges are approaching for the country-system, which also involve the activities of SegreDifesa. Among all, the European Defense, with the Commission that launched the first calls for the 7.9 billion euro fund for the period 2021-2027. Then there are the internal reforms, from the implementation of the aforementioned ministerial directive to the push that the DPP has given to many military programs. Finally, export support, which awaits the full implementation of the g2g reform. THE APPOINTMENT TOUR
Meanwhile, Portolano’s appointment opens the waltz on the changes at the top of the Armed Forces at the end of the year. Generals Giovanni Nistri (outgoing) and Teo Luzi (incoming) began in the early months of 2021 in the post of general commander of the Carabinieri. Then it was the turn of the Army, with the alternation between Salvatore Farina and Pietro Serino . The next will be the Air Force, considering that on October 31st the three years of General Alberto Rosso will end . At the same time, there should be a change at the top of the Defense Staff, with General Enzo Vecciarelliexpiring on 6 November and the planned transfer, if alternation is confirmed, to an exponent of the Navy. The process is the same for everyone. The appointments come from the Council of Ministers on the proposal of the Minister of Defense, all with suitable times to guarantee the handover before the end of their respective mandates. Finally, the place left free by Portolano at the top of the Covi is added. Current Deputy Commander and Air Force General Silvano Frigerio .
