Colonel Massimo Di Pietro began his studies at the “Nunziatella” Military School in 1988. Following his diploma in 1991, he joined the Military Academy, graduating in 1993 as Infantry 2nd Lieutenant. During the period 1993-1995, he continued his military formation in Turin, completing a degree in Politics and International Relations. He was also deployed abroad, to Bosnia and Afghanistan, serving as a PSYOPS Plans Officer. In this time frame, he also completed two Master’s degrees: “Security dynamics in the Mediterranean” (2002) and “Peace Keeping Security Studies” (2003). Col. Di Pietro attended the General Staff Course in Turin in 2006, where he attained a Master’s degree in political science, following which he was transferred to Solbiate Olona (Varese) at the ITA NATO Rapid Deployable Corps. In 2009-2010, he attended the Joint Superior Staff Course in Rome, where he gained a Master’s degree in International Security Studies. In 2010-2014, he was posted to the ITA Army General Staff in the Operations Department. He was also deployed abroad: Afghanistan in 2012 and USCENTCOM (Tampa, USA) in 2013. As Lieutenant Colonel, he took over command of the 1 st Battalion (5th Infantry Regiment) in Messina (2014-2016). From September 2015 to May 2016, he served as Force Protection Task Force Commander in the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. In June 2016, he was moved to the Joint Operations HQ. In July 2017 he was promoted Colonel, and in 2018 he was appointed commander of the 6th Bersaglieri Regiment in Trapani. Since April of 2020, Col. Di Pietro is the Director of the NATO Security Force Assistance Centre of Excellence (NATO SFA COE) in Cesano di Roma.