Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone is the Chief of Defence since 2021. He attended the Naval Academy in Livorno, where he graduated in 1980. He served as embarked helicopter pilot for almost 7 years, then, in 1989, he was selected for transition to jet aircraft and returned to USA, where he followed the flight training program in Meridian, MS, and Cherry Point, NC, from 1989 to 1991. He was among the first pilots of the newborn Italian Navy Harrier Squadron, being the first Commanding Officer. From 1999 through 2002, he was assigned to the Naval Aviation Department at the Italian Navy General Staff in Rome as Head of the R&D Office.  

In January 2012, he was appointed as Head of the Board of Experts to advise and assist the designated judge in the trial related to the Costa Concordia shipwreck off the Giglio Island (Tuscany). From June 2019 until November 2021, he was the Chief of the Italian Navy.