On Monday 17 January, General Debertolis took over from General Abrate, who was appointed Head of SMD.
The General Secretariat of Defence – National Armaments Directorate was established in 1965 and is responsible for implementing the directives issued by the Minister concerning high-level administration and the functioning of the technical-administrative area of the Ministry of Defence.
Among the functions covered are the promotion and coordination of technological research related to armament materials, the procurement of means, materials, and weapon systems for the Armed Forces, and support for the Italian Defence industry.
Biography of Air Force General Claudio Debertolis
General Debertolis was born in Trieste in 1950. He holds a degree in Diplomatic and International Sciences. He enlisted on 20 September 1970 as a cadet of the ’Leone III‘ course at the Air Force Academy in Pozzuoli (Naples). After obtaining his military pilot wings on the G91-T aircraft, in September 1975 he was assigned to the 22nd Group of the 51st Wing as an Air Defence squadron pilot on the F 104S Starfighter. During this period, he qualified for Combat Readiness on the aircraft, obtained the qualification of Flight Leader and of Gunnery and Tactics Instructor, and logged over 3,000 flight hours on over 50 types of aircraft. In 1979, he was transferred to the Experimental Flight Department where, after completing the experimental test pilot course at Edwards (California - United States) with the USAF, he held various positions. These included: experimental test pilot, Commander of the 535th Squadron, Head of Training, and Head of Testing. On 28 July 1986, he took command of the 311th Flight Group, consisting of the Department's test pilots, and subsequently in July 1987, he was appointed Head of Operations for the Experimental Department.
In 1988, he was transferred to the Air Force Staff, where he took up the post of Officer in charge of the 6th Armament Section of the 2nd Technical Development Office of the 4th Logistics Department and subsequently Head of the same Section. In this role, he contributed to the launch of Air Force Armament Programmes concerning various types of guided armament and anti-radar missiles (HARM programme). With the rank of Colonel in 1992, he returned to the Air Force Flight Experimental Department, assuming its command.
In 1994, he was posted to the General Secretariat of Defence and the National Armaments Directorate, where he served as Assistant to the Head of the 3rd Research and Development Office of the 4th Department; he subsequently took up the post of Head of that same 3rd Office. On 15 September 1997, he returned to the Air Force General Staff and took up the post of Head of the 4th Logistics Department; he was subsequently promoted to the rank of Air Brigadier on 1 January 1998. In this capacity, he contributed to the launch of numerous programmes to modernise the Air Force’s fleet, including the C-130J and C-27J transport aircraft programmes, the B767 in-flight refuelling programme, the MB-339 CD trainer aircraft, the MEADS programme for defence against ballistic missiles, and the Storm Shadow cruise missile programme. During this period, he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the four-nation programme to acquire the EF 2000 fighter. On 20 October 2000, he was assigned to the Logistics Command with the post of Commander of the 2nd Division, responsible for the maintenance of the Air Force’s flight lines, and, concurrently, with the secondary post of Chief of Staff of the same Logistics Command. In this capacity, he contributed to the reorganisation of the Air Force’s maintenance system and to the establishment of the logistics framework for the EF 2000 fighter aircraft. On 5 November 2003, he assumed the post of Head of the 3rd Operations Department of the Air Force General Staff, a position he held until February 2006, when he became Deputy Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defence. He was promoted to Air Division General on 3 January 2004 and to Air Lieutenant General on 9 June 2009. He served as Deputy Secretary-General for Defence and Deputy National Director of Armaments from 1 March 2010 to 16 January 2011. He has attended numerous advanced and qualification courses, including the 42nd Standard Course and the 54th Advanced Course at the Air War College in Florence, the Firearms and Tactics Instructor Course, and the Test Pilot and Experimenter Course at the United States Test Pilot School in Edwards.General Debertolis has been awarded the following honours and decorations:Gold Star for Length of Service (40 years), Gold Medal for Long Service, Mauritian Medal of Merit for 10 lustri of military service, NATO Medal for Operations in Kosovo, NATO Medal for Operations in the Former Yugoslavia,Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Gold Medal for Long-Term Command, Certificate of Public Merit awarded by the Civil Protection Agency on the occasion of the funeral of Pope John Paul II, Commander of the Order of Aeronautical Merit of the Federative Republic of Brazil,Badge of Honour for membership of the ’Office for Direct Collaboration with the Minister of Defence“, Ribbon of Merit for military personnel serving in the ”Offices for Direct Collaboration with the Minister of Defence”, Joint Forces Decoration of Honour from the Defence General Staff.
