camporini began holding office as a general in the chief of staff of the italian air force on september 20, 2006. he is now a command pilot with experience in over twenty different aircraft including f-104, tornado, amx, heavy transport aircraft and helicopters. as of december 2003 he had flown around 2500 hours. on february 12, 2008 general camporini was appointed to chief of defence general staff. after retirement in january 2011, he has been elected vice president of the istituto affari internazionali (iai), the most prominent italian think tank for foreign policy and strategy.