VALTER VIRDICHIZZI – He was born on 18 July 1963 in Monza, Northern Italy, and graduated in political science and international relations from the Guglielmo Marconi University in Rome. In 1982, he served in the Folgore Brigade of the Italian Army paratroopers. In 1985, after completing the NCO Academy, he became a Special Forces Operator in the 9th Regiment “Col Moschin” of the Italian Army SF.
Valter attended courses at the Military School of Parachuting in Pisa, Italy (IT), the Alpine Military School of Aosta (IT), and the COM.SUB.IN of the Italian Navy, and the International LRRP School in Weingarten (Germany). He is an SF instructor, Army instructor in mountaineering and skiing, and an Army instructor in close protection. He is also an Army free fall jump master (HALO/HAHO) and is qualified in combat scuba diving. Valter was deployed in Iraq, Somalia, Rwanda, the Former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Sudan.
From 1996 to 2000, Valter operated as a military assistant in Malta, collaborating with the Malta Maritime Squadron, Malta Police Special Assignment Group (SAG), Malta Revenue Security Corp, and other Malta Armed Forces units.
In 2005, Valter was qualified in the ITC (Instructor Training Course) by NASA/ESA at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne (Germany); he then collaborated with the European Space Agency for the training courses of the Astronaut Corps.
During his service in the Army, Valter conducted sessions in courses and international conferences in Italy and abroad, including:
– “The Role of SF and LRRP Units in Reconnaissance Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA)” in Rome (IT)
– “Close Protection in Non-Permissive Environments” for Guardia di Finanza (Italian Revenue Police) in Orvieto (IT)
– “Special Forces Operators Selection and Training” at the Armed Forces Academy in Tashkent (Uzbekistan)
– “Non-Permissive Environment, Security and Intelligence” at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Crisis Unit
In 2008, Valter was posted to the Joint Operations Command of Special Forces (COFS) in Rome as a Senior SF NCO. As a qualified Army Intelligence Specialist, Valter attended the SF Intelligence Analyst Course at the NATO Special Operations Headquarters of SHAPE. He worked in the J2 COFS Intelligence Office and was deployed to the Special Operations Force Fusion Cell (SOFFC) in Kabul in 2009.
From 2010 onward, Valter served in the Department of State and retired in 2021.
Valter Virdichizzi is the author of “TACTICAL SURVEILLANCE” (Il mestiere della sorveglianza fisica), published by Rubbettino Editor in July 2021 – ISBN: 9788849867879 and the author of “LA DIFESA COMUNE EUROPEA E L’INTELLIGENCE” publisched in 2025 – ISBN: 9791222786841.
Valter is married to Barbara and has a son; they live between Italy and Switzerland.