The handover ceremony with General D.A. Draghi was presided over by the Logistics Commander General Draghi, who leaves the post after a year to take on that of Deputy Logistics Commander. In his speech, he highlighted the peculiarity of the position he holds “…The Chief of Staff of the Logistics Command does indeed have its own structure, but basically it works with all the other Divisions and Services of the Logistics Command and is also the interface with the A.M. General Staff. I take this opportunity to thank all the Division Commanders and the Heads of Services for always supporting me in achieving the goal.”He then thanked all the staff for their efforts and finally wished General Miniscalco good luck in his new role.
Following this, General Miniscalco thanked the Logistics Commander for welcoming him “…in the family of the Logistics Command…”And subsequently, he also thanked General Draghi, stating…Once again he will be my instructor; we have known each other for 28 years… and this time the car ride will be more complex than the first times; I imagine it will be just as exciting.”Finally, addressing the staff, he emphasized that “…In the workplace I have always maintained excellent relations with my staff; I can guarantee the same serenity as my predecessor; we will work in that direction; I am simply asking for the same level of concrete action that you demonstrated with General Draghi; the same intellectual honesty; I am asking for fresh ideas to help me grow and improve.”.
General Lodovisi, recalling the particular restructuring climate that currently characterizes the Defense, within which particular emphasis will have to be given to quality, stated:“We have new members of the leadership of the Logistics Command of very high quality, and General Miniscalco is no exception; he is at the top of the course; he is a person who has had certain experiences and has done them well… He will not have an easy job, and the request I will make of him is to continue to carry out the fundamental coordination work within the structures of the Logistics Command, but at the same time he will have to increase, towards a future that is still being defined, the coordination activity with the subordinate Departments of the General Staff; I am looking in particular at the 3rd, the 4th and the 6th, but also at all the others, in the perspective of future evolution, because it is my conviction that the Logistics Command is a provider of services; therefore, we are not functional to ourselves but to a very precise objective, which is to make the operational part function…”. The Logistic Commander then continued by referring to General Draghi, who will continue to report to him as Deputy Commander. “… General Draghi’s characteristics are well known to everyone; he worked very well in the General Staff; and when I say very well, I mean that he worked very, very well because he managed to make pragmatism, concreteness, immediate responsiveness, and working day by day his way of operating.”.
Brigadier General Gianpaolo Miniscalco was born in Rome on July 18, 1959. He attended the Air Academy with the “Urano III” course; he was sent to Canada to undergo jet piloting training, and subsequently assigned to the Istrana Base (TV), as a fighter interceptor pilot on an F-104 aircraft. In 1986, he joined the National Acrobatics Patrol, within which he successively held the positions of right wingman, leader and commander. During his career as a pilot, from 2002 to 2004, he served at the 9th “Francesco Baracca” Fighter Wing, accumulating over 4,000 flight hours. General Miniscalco was also employed in various staff positions at the Air Force General Staff and, from 1999 to 2002, served as Deputy Military Advisor at the Italian Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. More recently, he attended the “National Defence University” in Washington, and since the summer of 2007 he has held the position of Deputy Chief of the III Department of the General Secretariat of the Defense. From June 1, 2011, he assumed the position of Chief of the IV Department of the General Secretariat of the Defense/National Armaments Directorate. General Miniscalco is married and has two children.
