AFCEA International Welcomes New Europe-Based General Manager
Fairfax, VA, Sept. 09, 2024 – Italian navy Rear Adm. Massimo Esposito (Ret.) has joined AFCEA International as the new general manager, AFCEA Europe.
Esposito comes to AFCEA after serving for three years at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, focusing on new technologies and their effects on future warfare. He started in his new role on September 9 and will be based in the AFCEA Europe office in Brussels.
“Massimo Esposito has had his thumb on the pulse of emerging technologies and brings an impressive skill set and background that will go a long way toward guiding AFCEA in our support of our allies and partners—not just in Europe, but internationally,” said AFCEA President and CEO, Lt. Gen. Susan S. Lawrence, USA (Ret.). “He is a visionary with organizational and operational experience vital for our association and our global members.”
Esposito entered the Italian Naval Academy in 1983 and spent 15 years serving aboard warships as an antisubmarine warfare, operations and executive officer.
In addition to his command assignments, Esposito served in a variety of senior positions at single service, joint and international levels, including: Maritime Operations Center manager at NATO Naval headquarters, Naples, Italy; directing staff, teacher and senior researcher at the Italian Joint Staff College, Rome; executive and military assistant to the commanding officer of the Italian Naval Staff College, Venice, Italy; plans section head and military cooperation team leader at NATO Joint Forces Command, Brunssum, the Netherlands; director of the Centre for Maritime Studies at the Italian Naval Staff College, Venice, Italy; and branch head and military assistant at the Italian Military Delegation, NATO HQ, Brussels.
He earned a Master of Arts in defense studies from King’s College in London and in international, strategic and military studies from LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from the University of Lecce in Italy, a Bachelor of Science in naval and maritime science from the University of Pisa in Italy and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Trieste in Italy. He has also successfully attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Shrivenham, U.K.
At AFCEA, Esposito succeeds German air force Maj. Gen. Erich Staudacher (Ret.), who retired from the German armed forces in 2016 and has served as AFCEA Europe’s general manager since 2017. 
