Capt. Leonardo Giovannelli is a native of Mexico City, Mexico and spent his youth in San Diego, California.  He was commissioned in 2000 through Officer Candidate School after earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Southern California.  He also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College.

At sea, he served aboard USS Curts (FFG 38) as combat information center officer and assistant operations officer; USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3) as detachment officer in charge for Expeditionary Strike Group at Naval Beach Group One; USS Dewey (DDG 105) as commissioning chief engineer; USS Antietam (CG 54) as chief engineer; and USS Preble (DDG 88) as executive officer and then as commanding officer.

Ashore, he served as special mission and naval fleet auxiliary ships scheduler at Military Sealift Logistics Command Europe; as a director fellow in the Chief of Naval Operations Strategic Studies Group; as air and missile defense lead at Surface Warfare Officers School Command; as commanding officer at Mariner Skills Training Center, Pacific; and as director of Fleet Training Pacific at Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center.

He reported as commanding officer, Surface Combat Systems Training Command San Diego in October 2025.
 

Last Updated: 2 December 2025