The new head of the Italian government, Mario Monti, has picked the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, to join the cabinet as Defence Minister. Di Paola has spent the last three years working on reform of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and left his post with the personal thanks of the Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
The Admiral worked on submarines for the first part of his military training. He commanded the Cappellini and Sauro but has also captained an aircraft carrier, the Garibaldi. The Admiral speaks fluent English, French, Spanish and Italian. He will be expected to serve in a technocratic capacity within a leadership expected to turn the tide of economic instability in Italy.
