Brigadier general Ruggiero Capodivento (born 24 July 1963) is a member of the Italian Carabinieri, 20th and 26th commander of the Multinational Specialized Unit, and former commander of the international military mission "MIADIT 16", in Djibouti. He is currently serving as deputy commander of the Carabinieri Legion "Toscana".
Military career
He joined the Carabinieri in 1983 with the rank of carabiniere ausiliario. He attended the Military Academy of Modena between 1984 and 1986, acquiring the rank of sub-lieutenant. Then, he completed his military studies at the Carabinieri Officers' School of Rome. In 1988 he was promoted to lieutenant and was chosen as commander of a platoon of cadets at the Carabinieri Marshal School of Florence. From 1990 to 1991 he led the Criminal Investigation Team of the Carabinieri Company of Mestre (VE, Italy).
At the end of 1991 he was promoted to the rank of captain and was appointed to the command of the Carabinieri Company of Reggio Emilia.
In 1997, he moved to the Carabinieri Company of Pozzuoli (NA, Italy), as the commander of the unit. In the next years he was promoted to rank of major and led a section at the Carabinieri Officers' School of Rome.
From 2004 to 2009, he was detached as a staff officer at General Defence Headquarters in Rome. In 2004, he was deployed in Sarajevo for the NATO mission SFOR (Bosnia and Herzegovina). In 2005, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
In 2009, he was promoted to colonel and was assigned to the Carabinieri Training Schools’ Command in Rome as departmental chief. From 2012 to 2013 he was detached to the city of Kochi, India as the Carabinieri officer for the Enrica Lexie case.
In 2013, he commanded the Carabinieri district of TrevisoTreviso Today - Treviso, nuovo comandante provinciale carabinieri ruggiero capodivento (in Italian Language) and in 2016, was nominated chief of staff of the Carabinieri Legion "Toscana".
From 15 September, 2018, he has been the 20th commander of the Multinational Specialized Unit (MSU) of KFOR.NATO JFC Naples MSU Change of Command 2018 He ended his service as KFOR-MSU commander on 16 October, 2019,Missione in Kosov Avvicendamento Comando MSU Carabinieri (in Italian Language) and was awarded with the Medal of Merit from the Kosovo Police and the Minister of Internal Affairs Ekrem Mustafa and the Presidential Military Medal, the highest Kosovo military decoration, from president Hashim Thaçi."Il colonnello reggiano Ruggiero Capodivento premiato dal Kosovo" Gazzetta di Reggio 29 October 2019. Page nr. 19 section "Reggioemilia" (Ricerca Gazzetta di Reggio) (In Italian language)
After returning to Italy in 2019, he returned to once more be the chief of staff of Carabinieri Legion "Toscana".Scheda personale su Carabinieri.it (in Italian) archivied copy On 5 October, 2020, he left the position of chief of staff to be appointed as the deputy commander of the same unit.
From 31 January, 2022 to 31 May, 2022, he was the commander of the MIADIT 16, deployed in Djibouti, a military mission with the aim to train the Somali Armed Forces alongside local security forces.Difesa.it Somalia: al via la sedicesima edizione della MIADIT (in Italian)
On 8 February, 2023, he returned to Kosovo as commander of the Multinational Specialized Unit of KFOR.
On 26 July, 2023, he was promoted to brigadier general.
During his career, he was the only officer in charge of the KFOR-MSU Regiment in two different years (2019 and 2023) and the only one holding the command with the rank of brigadier general, achieved during his mandate.
He served as MSU commander until 10 February, 2024. At the end of his mandate the mayor of Pristina Përparim Rama awarded him the Key to the City, highest decoration of the municipality.Video from the Mayor of Pristina Official Facebook page.Difesa.it - Pristina, consegna delle chiavi della città al Generale Ruggiero Capodivento (in Italian)
He is currently serving as chief of staff of the Carabinieri Legion "Toscana".
Studies Capodivento graduated from high school as a chartered building surveyor in 1982 and in Law at the University of Macerata in 1993. He then obtained a degree in "Security Sciences" at the University of Rome "Tor Vergata" in 2003 and a Master's degree in Strategic Sciences at the University of Turin.
He also qualified as a lawyer in 1999.
Personal life Capodivento is married and has two sons.
Related voices Carabinieri Multinational Specialized Unit
References
External links
Official Ruggiero Capodivento's Twitter account Official Ruggiero Capodivento's LinkedIn account