Who is Who – Enrico Barduani: A General with a parachute badge and two degrees

Qualified as an Armored Units Commander with the title of "Cavalry Officer," but also holds an Italian Army Parachutist Badge and an American Army Parachutist Badge. At the "Film City" base in Pristina, on Saturday, a formal ceremony will take place for the handover of duties to the new KFOR commander. Turkish General Ozkan Ulutaş will be replaced by General Enrico Barduani. Of the 28 commanders of this mission so far, he will be the 14th to come from Italy.

The new KFOR commander has completed two degrees. He graduated in Political Science from the University of Turin, as well as in International and Diplomatic Sciences from the University of Trieste. He also holds a Master's degree in Political Science from the University of Turin.

He has seen plenty of war: from Iraq to Afghanistan, and he has served in Kosovo twice before.

The first time was in 2001 as the Deputy Chief of the Italian Military Intelligence Service under NATO’s "Joint Guardian" operation.

Then, from 2015 to 2016, he served as Chief of Staff at KFOR Command in Pristina.

In between, in 2004, he served in Sector J3 during operations in Iraq, and in Lebanon in 2009 as the commander of the RECCE unit under UNIFIL. In 2019 and 2020, he commanded NATO's "Train Advise Assist Command – West (TAAC – West)" in Herat, Afghanistan, as part of the ISAF international security forces.

So far, he has led several elite Italian units.

In 2013, he was appointed commander of the Third Cavalry Airborne Regiment "Savoia" of the "Folgore" Parachute Brigade.

This brigade was the first foreign military unit to be decorated in 2004.

The Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church awarded this brigade the Order of Saint Sava for its role in saving the Peć Patriarchate, Dečani, and Serbian enclaves in this part of Kosovo.

He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in 2018, and a year later, he was appointed commander of another elite Italian unit—the 132nd Armored Brigade "Ariete."

This brigade was on regular rotation as part of KFOR’s mission under the Regional Command West (RC-W) until the beginning of this year. In February, it was replaced by the "Pinerolo" Logistics Regiment.

Military career

Barduani completed the Military College in Naples and then the Military Academy in Modena.

He received his first rank—Cavalry Second Lieutenant—in 1990, and later, as a Lieutenant from 1992 to 1997, served in the Fifth Cavalry Regiment "Lancers of Novara" in Udine.

For a short period, he was an instructor at the Cavalry Military School from 1998 to 2000, and also an instructor at the Army Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition Training Center.

He spent eight years as a staff officer in the Italian Army Chief of Staff’s office, and in 2008, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and took command of a squadron in the Sixth Cavalry Regiment "Lancers of Aosta" in Palermo.

From September 2020 to May 2022, he was Chief of Staff of the Chairman of the EU Military Committee in Brussels.

After returning to Italy, he was assigned to the Ministry of Defense as Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of military policy affairs. In October 2023, he also took on the role of Director for Defense Policy.

He has been awarded the "Knight of the Military Order" of Italy, the Order of Merit of Italy, the "Legion of Merit" of the U.S. Army, and has also been decorated in Slovenia and Romania.

General Barduani is married, and his wife Daniela is an officer in the local police in Italy.