Luciano Zappata

Luciano Zappata
Allegiance	Italy
Service/branch	Italian Navy
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Deputy Chief of Staff of the Navy

Admiral Luciano Zappata is an Italian Navy officer who served as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.

He was born in Rome in september 29th 1947. He joined the Italian Naval Academy in 1966 and graduated and commissioned Ensign in may 1970.

During his initial tour of duty he served aboard the Italian Navy submarines Enrico Toti, Morosini and Mocenigo. From 1975 to 1978 he served aboard Destroyer Ardito as Communicatios Officer and Head of the Operations Department. In 1978 e took command of Corvette Ape in support of the Navy Special Operations Command COMSUBIN in La Spezia. From 1980 to 1985 he served as staff officer in charge of the development of the Navy Command, Control and Information Automated System,

Selected for promotion to Commander in 1982 he held positions within the Navy General Staff and HQs Commander in Chief Naval Fleet as Chief of the Command and Control Section and subsequently Head of the C3 Office.

During the period 1985 to 1988 Commander Zappata served first as executive Officer of Frigate Maestrale and later took command of Frigate Espero, particoating in Persian Gulf Operations to ensure freedom of navigation for merchante vessels operating in tha region. From 1988 to 1992, promoted to Captain, he was assigned tothe Italian Navy Staff Weapons and Ships Department, ehere he held several appointments in the Combat Systems Division.

From 1992 to 1993 served as commanding officer of the cruiser ITS Vittorio Veneto, participating in: Operation Restore Hope in Somalia; NATO and Western European Union (WEU) Operations in blockading the coasts of the Former Yugoslavia as Flagship of the Nato Commander, Standing Naval Force Mediterranean a WEU Naval Force.

Promoted to Rear Admiral in December 1996, he held the position of Commander of the Second and Third Naval Divisions acting as CTG 621.01 (Italian Carrier Garibaldi Battle Group) during Operations Allied Force - DINAK - Kosovo.

Subsequently he served as Chief of Staff to Commander in Chief Naval Fleet then on the eve of Operation Enduring Freedom as Vice Inspector for Naval Logistics Support operating in support of Italian Navy Deployment in the Indian Ocean.

In January 2005, he was promoted to vice admiral and served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy. Before being promoted to admiral in June 2007 he served as Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Italian Defence. He assumed the position of Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation on July 2, 2007.

At the end of his NATO tour as DSACT he retired on the 29h september 2010.

Admiral Zappata has been awarded The Knight of Italian Military Order, Great Officer of the Italian Republic Order Of Merit, USA Legion of Merit (Degree of Officer), Medaille de la Defense Nationale (FRANCE) echelon or.