In 1994, he entered the Air Force Academy, with the course Rostro III, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Sciences.
From 1998 to 1999, he attended flight school at the EURO NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) Sheppard in Texas (USA), where he obtained a military pilot's license on T38 aircraft.Upon returning to Italy, he completed the pre-operational course at the 61st Stormo of Lecce-Galatina on the MB-339CD.He was subsequently sent to the RAF-Coningsby (UK) Operational Conversion Unit to train on the TORNADO F3.
In 2001, he was assigned to the 36th Wing of Gioia del Colle, XII Squadron C.I., as a Tornado F3 pilot, where he served as the Commander of the 73rd, 89th, and 90th Flight and Chief of Operations Unit.
After a Staff Tour at the Air Force Staff - 4th Department “Logistics and Procurement” in 2007, he was sent to the 4th Wing of Grosseto to transition to the EF 2000. Then, he was assigned to the 4th Wing - 20th Operational Training Unit, where he served as a Eurofighter operational conversion instructor. He was Head of the Operations Unit, Head of the Training Unit, Head of the Training Section, and 20th Squadron Commander from 2014 to 2016. Then, he assumed the role of Head of Operations Office of the 4th Wing.
From 2005-2015, he participated in developing national requirements for the JSF-F35 Program as part of a team of pilots and engineers testing the system's performance in Lockheed Martin’s simulator facility in NAS Fort Worth – TX.
During this period, he participated in Operation “Unified Protector - Libya” in 2011 as a Trapani-Birgi Task Group Air pilot. In 2015, he was Commander of the Typhoon Task Group during the first Baltic Air Policing in Lithuania.
Transferred to the Air Force Staff - 3rd Department “Air Force Policy Directorate” in 2016, he held the position of 2nd Section Head and was promoted to Colonel in 2018. He became the Deputy Chief of the 2nd Office, "Policy of Air Force Generation and Offering," and Chief of the 4th Office, “Air Force Foreign Policy," assisting the Italian Air Force Chief in international engagements with foreign diplomatic and military representatives.
In 2021, he was the Task Force Air Commander for the NATO Air Policing mission in the Baltics.In 2022, he became the Wing Commander of the Italian Air Force's 37th Wing in Trapani – Sicily.
Col Donati is a highly educated individual with a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Trieste, where he graduated with honors. He also attended the 16th Joint Staff Officer’s Course in Rome and earned a Level Master of Science in Strategic Studies. In 2020, he graduated from the National War College at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, with a Master of Science in National Security Strategy
Speaking
17September
09:30 / 10:20
Bibliothèque
Session
Space Commands' Leaders: Shaping the Present and Future of Space Defense
