Major General (reserve) of the Italian Army, he commanded armoured and cavalry units. A graduate in Strategic Sciences and in Political Sciences, he holds Master's degrees in Strategic Sciences, in International Security Advanced Studies and in International Journalism. At senior command bodies he developed activities of general planning, financial programming and internal controls, focusing on cost analysis and on the introduction of objective-based planning methodologies and procedures within the Defence sector and their monitoring, as well as on organisational optimisation and process reengineering.
He was Deputy Director of the Military Centre for Strategic Studies, setting up and organising study and research activities of a strategic, political and military nature, with particular attention to military sociology, international relations and terrorist phenomena. He was Deputy Director of the Joint Services Staff College, which provides advanced professional training for Italian and foreign Officers and for Civil Servants destined to take up posts of particular importance. He was Director of the Institute for Advanced Defence Studies, the institute that develops the advanced training and professional development of the military and civilian leadership of the Defence sector, of foreign Officers and of executives of private bodies of national importance. Alongside the institute's research and training activities, he contributed to public debate and to the dissemination of political and strategic issues through writings in specialist journals and by organising and taking part in meetings and events.