Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr.

United States Navy

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

 
Admiral Giambastiani serves as the seventh Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  In this capacity, he is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Nation’s second highest ranking military officer.   
 
As Vice Chairman, Admiral Giambastiani chairs the Joint Requirements Oversight Council, co-chairs the Defense Acquisition Board, and serves as a member of the National Security Council Deputies Committee and the Nuclear Weapons Council.  In addition, he works with Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England as Co-Chair of the Deputies Advisory Working Group, which oversees implementation of the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review and other high level Departmental business issues.
 
Admiral Giambastiani's operational assignments have included several in which he was responsible for both demanding at-sea operations and the development of new technologies and experimental processes.  Early sea assignments included USS PUFFER (SSN 652) and USS FRANCIS SCOTT KEY (SSBN 657) (BLUE).  While assigned to PUFFER, he was a 1973 winner of the Fleet Commander’s Junior Officer Submarine Shiphandling Competition.  He commanded SUBMARINE NR-1, the Navy's only nuclear powered deep diving ocean engineering and research submarine and USS RICHARD B. RUSSELL (SSN 687), where the crew was awarded three consecutive Battle Efficiency “E”s, three Navy Unit Commendations, and two Fleet Commander Silver Anchors for excellence in enlisted retention.
 
Admiral Giambastiani also led Submarine Development Squadron Twelve, an operational submarine squadron that also serves as the Navy's Warfare Center of Excellence for submarine doctrine and tactics. Established in 1949, Submarine Development Squadron Twelve is the oldest experimental unit of its kind in the U.S. military. He served as the first director of strategy and concepts at the Naval Doctrine Command, as well as Commander, Atlantic Fleet Submarine Force; Commander, Submarines Allied Command Atlantic; and Commander, Anti-Submarine and Reconnaissance Forces Atlantic in Norfolk, Virginia.
 
Admiral Giambastiani's other shore and staff assignments include duties as an enlisted program manager at the Navy Recruiting Command Headquarters, Washington, DC, in the early days of the all volunteer force; Special Assistant to the Deputy Director for Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency; and, a fellowship with the Chief of Naval Operations' Strategic Studies Group. As a flag officer, he served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments for the Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Director of Submarine Warfare for the Chief of Naval Operations; Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Requirements, and Assessments; and as the Senior Military Assistant to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld.  His previous assignment was as NATO’s first Supreme Allied Commander Transformation and as Commander, United States Joint Forces Command, where he led the transformation of NATO and U.S. military forces, capabilities and doctrines and the introduction of new technologies.   
 
A native of Canastota, New York, Admiral Giambastiani graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with leadership distinction in 1970. He has been awarded numerous decorations but is most proud of his 19 unit awards and commendations because they recognize the participation and accomplishments of the entire team.