Lieutenant General Giovanni Balestri

Deputy Chief of Staff Italian Air Force

Lt.Gen. Balestri joined the Italian Air Force in 1986 as a student pilot in the FALCO IV course at the Air Force Academy. He obtained his military pilot's licence on the MB339A aircraft at Galatina (Lecce) Pilot School in 1991. He then attended the operational preparation course on the G91T aircraft at Amendola AFB (Foggia) and the operational conversion course on the TF104G aircraft at the 20th OCU Sqn, 4th Wing in Grosseto.

In September 1991, Lt.Gen. Balestri was assigned to the 18th Sqn of the 37th Wing at Trapani Birgi AFB, where in January 1992 he qualified as a "combat-ready" interceptor pilot on the F104 ASA aircraft. In 1996, after attending the F-104 instructor course, he was re-assigned to the 20th Sqn, 4th Wing Grosseto, where he spent 9 years as an instructor pilot in various positions. These included Chief of the Training and Standardization Section, 20th OCU Sqn; Chief of Operations, 4th Wing Grosseto; and Commander, 20th OCU Sqn for three years, from September 2001 to October 2004, during the transition from the F-104 to the EF- 2000 aircraft.

During his operational career, he attended the Incident Prevention Course, the Link 16 Course, the Production Test Pilot Course and the Tactical Leadership Program Course. He was also awarded the Medal for Operations in the Former Yugoslavia and Kosovo. In 2005, he was assigned to the JSF Program Office at the Joint Program Office in Washington DC, USA, where he was responsible for planning and coordinating the C4I systems interoperability verification and validation testing of the F-35 and he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his efforts. In September 2008, he took the position of Chief of the Logistics Support Office of the JSF Programme Directorate in the IV Division of the Italian Secretariat General of Defence.

From July 2010 to June 2012, he served as Commanding Officer of the 36th Fighter Wing in ‘Gioia del Colle’ AFB and participated in operations "Odyssey Dawn" and "Unified Protector", for which he was awarded the "Bronze Medal of Air Force Merit". From 2012 to 2015, he was again assigned to the JSF Program Office in Washington, DC, as a national representative, for which he received the Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer) Medal from the US Secretary of Defense. From September 2015, he served as "Programme Director" at the JSF Programme Directorate within the IV Department of the Italian National Armament Directorate. On 24 December 2018, he was assigned to the Air Staff as Deputy Chief, "Economic and Financial Affairs" Division, and then led the same Division from 01 March 2019 to 25 July 2021.

From 22 June 2021 to 29 September 2024, he was assigned to the Defence General Staff as Chief of the General Planning and Budget Office. From 27 February 2024 to 28 July 2024, he was also appointed as Acting Deputy Chief of the Defence General Staff, while retaining the position of Chief of the General Planning and Budget Office. During this period he was awarded the “Joint Honor Medal of the Defense General Staff” and the “Officer grade of the Order of Merit of Italian Republic”.

From 20 December 2024 he was assigned to the Air Force Logistics Command as Vice Commander until 23 June 2025. From 1 March to 28 May 2025 he was appointed also as Commander of the 3rd Division of Logistics Command. From 16 May 2025 he assumed additional roles as acting Commander of Logistics Command and Chief of Staff of the Logistics Command, until 2 June 2025. Since 3 June 25, Lt.Gen. Balestri as been appointed as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force.

Lt.Gen. Balestri attended the General Staff Course at the Air Warfare School in Florence, the NATO Defence College in Rome, and qualified as pilot on SIAI SF-260, MB-339A, G-91T, TF-104G/M, F-104 ASA/M, EF-2000 aircraft and has approximately 2,900 hours of flight time on combat aircraft. He is married to Eliana and together they have two children, Sara and Davide