Chief of Defence - Description of the Office

The office and powers of the Chief of Defence are established by Law n. 25, 18 February 1997 on top military ranks.

Description of the Office

The Chief of Defence:

is an Army, Navy or Air Force officer on active service whose rank, at the time of appointment, must be Lieutenant General or Vice-Admiral;
is appointed by decree of the President of the Republic, on proposal of the Minister of Defence and subject to Cabinet agreement;
is the senior technical-military advisor to the Minister of Defence, his direct superior, to whom he is responsible for the implementation of directives;
outranks the Service Chiefs of Staff and, as regards technical and operational functions, the Secretary General of Defence;
is a full member of the Supreme Defence Council;
when absent, is replaced by the Service Chief of Staff most senior in office.

Powers

Under the new structure established by law n. 25/1997, the Chief of Defence is the highest Defence authority. As already mentioned, he is directly subordinate to the Defence Minister and outranks the Service Chiefs of Staff and, as regards technical and operational functions, the Secretary General of Defence.

According to the Minister's directives, the Chief of Defence is responsible for the organization, planning and employment of the Armed Forces: in these activities, he is supported by a Staff and a Command of Joint Operations.

Having heard the Service Chiefs of Staff, he develops the general financial and joint operational plans and the resulting technical-financial programs.

In particular, he exercises operational control over investments and operating expenses, in order to establish priorities among the operational requirements and relevant programs in the first case, and the general criteria in the second; in both cases, his control is aimed at ensuring the best use of available financial resources.

In the investment area, he issues directives on the implementation of individual programs and the allocation of relevant funds. As regards operating expenses, he is responsible for the operational employment of funds assigned to the individual bodies directly subordinate to him and for the allocation of relevant funds.

In any case, operational control falls exclusively within the province of the Chief of Defence, who is responsible for the general financial and joint operational planning.

In particular, the term operational control of funds defines the executive function aimed at assessing and harmonizing programs and financial resources in the light of their mutual impact and of goals being pursued, as well as monitoring, in broad outline, the progress of the various programs: in this way, in case of funds’ surplus or shortage or new high priority requirements, corrective measures can be implemented during the financial year.

The Chief of Defence is also responsible for all activities related to the structure and technical-operational organization of the Armed Forces, as well as the employment of military (or civilian) personnel assigned to joint/international bodies or other Ministries.

In this context, the Chief of Defence advises the Minister on the appointment of the Secretary General and Service Chiefs of Staff, as well as the assignment of Lieutenant Generals and officers of equivalent rank to positions within their respective Services.