Admiral Giambastiani graduated from the US Naval Academy with leadership distinction. He has been awarded numerous U.S. and foreign decorations including 12 Defense and Service Distinguished Service Medals, but he is most proud of his 19 unit awards and commendations because they recognize the participation and accomplishments of the entire team.

 

Adm. Giambastiani was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, the highest civilian decoration that is awarded by the Italian Republic.

EDMUND P. GIAMBASTIANI, JR.
ADMIRAL, UNITED STATES NAVY (ret.)

Admiral Giambstiani retired from active duty on 1 October 2007. He most recently served as the Nation’s 7th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alenia North America, Inc. in addition to consulting and serving as a director of SRA International, Inc., Monster Worldwide, Inc. and the QinetiQ Group plc in the United Kingdom.

While on active duty, he held extensive operational and staff assignments including command at the submarine, submarine squadron, fleet, allied and joint service level. He also has extensive experience in organizations that were responsible for experimentation and change. Prior to his tenure as Vice Chairman, he served as the Senior Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, as Commander, United States Joint Forces Command and as NATO’s first Supreme Allied Commander Transformation. While at NATO, Admiral Giambastiani led the transformation of NATO military structures, forces, capabilities and doctrines to improve the military effectiveness of the Alliance. As CDRUSJFCOM, Admiral Giambastiani was responsible for maximizing future and present military capabilities of the United States by leading the transformation of joint forces through enhanced joint concept development and experimentation, identifying joint requirements, advancing interoperability, conducting joint training and providing ready U.S. forces and capabilities. Adm. Giambastiani exercised combatant command of approximately 1.1 million personnel through his Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps service components.

While Vice Chairman, Admiral Giambastiani worked with the Secretary, Deputy Secretary of Defense and other senior defense leaders to draft and implement the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review. He synchronized the efforts of the defense requirements, resources and acquisition communities to deliver the right capabilities at the right time for the joint warfighter. In the process, Admiral Giambastiani transformed the Joint Requirements Oversight Council to make it more agile, transparent, inclusive and responsive to the capability needs of the Combatant Commanders, while focusing its agenda on the Nation’s most pressing military issues. He also co-chaired the Defense Acquisition Board and was a member of the National Security Council Deputies Committee and the Nuclear Weapons Council.