Lieutenant General Danilo Errico was born in Turin on 11th August 1953.
He entered the Military Academy in 1973.
He began his military career as Lieutenant of the Bersaglieri Corps, assigned to the 26th Battalion of the "Garibaldi" Brigade, where he served as Platoon Leader and Company Commander.
In 1983, he became Military Helicopter Pilot and served with the 51st Squadron "Leone" belonging to the 1st Army Aviation
Regiment "Antares" in Viterbo (Lazio). From 1986 to 1991, he was Flight lnstructor at the Italian Army Aviation Training Centre.
From 1991 to 1992, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he attended the Advanced Staff Course at the Civitavecchia War College, and was then assigned to the 4th Department of the Army General Staff, where he served as Chief of the 3rd Section, Army Aviation.
In 1993, he was appointed Commander of the 67th Bersaglieri Battalion "Fagare" in Cosenza (Calabria) and took part in the planning and performance of the following public order operations: "Vespri Siciliani" in Agrigento (Sicily) and "Riace" in Reggio Calabria (Calabria).
In September 1994, he was reassigned to the Army General Staff, 4th Department, as Chief of the 3rd Section of the Tactical Mobility Division.
After being promoted to the rank of Colonel, in May 1997 he took command of the 7th Attack Helicopter Regiment "Vega" and participated in Operation "Alba" in Albania.
From September 2000 to September 2003, he was appointed Chief of the Force Planning Branch at the Permanent Delegation of ltaly to NATO and, during the period of NATO enlargement, he represented Italy in the Defence Review Committee (DRC) and in the PfP PARP Committee. Moreover, as ltalian Representative, he took part in the 1st NCS review. In 2001, he attended the Senior Officer Policy Course at the NATO School of Oberammergau. In January 2003, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General.
From October 2003 to May 2004, he commanded Armoured Brigade "Pinerolo" taking part, inter alia, in the ARRC exercise "Arcade Fusion 2003".
From 19th May to 16th Nov 2004, he commanded the KFOR Multinational Brigade South West in Kosovo.
From January 2005 to February 2006, he was at the head of the Army Aviation Training Centre.
From February to May 2006, he was ISAF Regional Area Coordinator West in Herat (Afghanistan), and, after the expansion of ISAF to the south, from June to October of the same year acted as Regional Commander West.
Promoted Major General on 1st January 2007, he was placed at the head of the General Office of the Italian Chief of the Defence Staff.
In March 2008, he became Chief of the 3rd Department of the Army General Staff, and Chief of the Operation Centre of the Army General Staff.
From January 2012 to January 2013, Lieutenant General Errico acted as Commander of the 1st Defence Forces Command (FOD) in Vittorio Veneto (Treviso).
From 15th February 2013 to 25th February 2015 was Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff.
On 20th February 2015, the Cabinet (meeting n. 51) appointed Lieutenant General Errico as Chief of Staff of the Army with effect from 27th February 2015.
Lieutenant General Errico holds two degrees, one in Strategy Sciences and one in lnternational and Diplomatic Sciences.
Major awards and decorations:
• Knight with Grand Cross of the Order to the Merit of the Italian Republic;
• Knight's Cross of the Military Order of ltaly;
• Bronze Medal to the Army Valour;
• Mauritian Medal to the Merit of Ten Lustra of Military Career;
• Gold Medal to the Merit for long military service in Command;
• Air Force Military Gold Medal for Long Air Navigation (20 years);
• Gold Cross with Star for Service Seniority;
• Commemorative Cross for participation in peacekeeping missions abroad (Albania, Kosovo, Afghanistan);
• Commemorative Cross to humanitarian rescue of people outside the national territory (Albania)
• Commemorative Cross for operations of public order (Domino, Riace, Vespri Siciliani, Safe Roads);
• Grand Officer Cross pro Merito Melitensi of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta;
• Grand Cross to the Military Merit of the Spanish Army with White Decoration;
• Gold Cross to the Merit of the German Armed Forces;
• Gold Cross to the Merit of the Bulgarian Armed Forces;
• Knight of the French Legion of Honour;
• Legionnaire of Honour of the Spanish Legion;
• Grand Officer of the Order to the Military Merit of the Brasilian Army.
He is honorary citizen of the city of Maglie.
The Lieutenant General Errico is married with Madame Mariella and they have got a daughter, Chiara, and a son, Alessandro.