Brig. Gen. Marinelli (55) joined Italy’s Army Military Academy in 1980 and was commissioned to the 3rd LANCE Artillery Battalion in 1984.
He attended the Italian Staff College during 1994 and 1995, then soon after took the Command and General Staff Officer Course at Fort Leavenworth (U.S.).
In 1996 he was promoted to the rank of major, and in 1997 to lieutenant colonel, at which point he returned to Italy as a senior officer at the Army General Staff – Operations Division.
In 1998 he served as G1 of the Multinational Division SE in SFOR in Bosnia. In October 2000 he was assigned to Italian Land Operational Forces HQ in Verona, where he served for five years.
After serving in Afghanistan as chief of the advanced planning team to CJTF 180, he was promoted to the rank of full colonel in 2004, taking over command of the 5th FA regiment “SUPERGA”.
For the next three years, he was assigned to HQ SACT as Expeditionary Operation Integrated Capability Team Leader, then in 2009/2010, he was Deputy Commander of the Granatieri di Sardegna Infantry Brigade.
He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in January 2010. In 2011 he was assigned to Kabul, Afghanistan, and in 2012 he moved to ISAF Joint Command as Chief of Combat Support, before being assigned to the Italian Defence General Staff as Deputy Chief of the 3rd Division “Military Policy and Planning” and then, on July 2013, assigned to the Army General Staff as the Deputy Chief of the 3rd Division “Force Employment/Army Operations Centre”.
Brig. Gen. Marinelli graduated from the Scientific Lycée and holds a degree in Strategic Sciences from The University of Turin, a degree in Political Sciences from the University of Trieste and a 2nd level Master’s Degree in Strategic Sciences, also from the University of Turin.
He speaks Italian, English and French and is a married father of two children.
