Lieutenant General Francisco Javier Varela Salas is named Chief of Staff of the Army

The Council of Ministers met on 31st March and named Lieutenant General Francisco Javier Varela Salas as Chief of Staff of the Army, at the Minister of Defence's proposal.

Born in 1952 in Puertollano (Ciudad Real), he joined the General Military Academy as a member of the 33rd class and was promoted to lieutenant in 1978. He has been posted in the nº 41 Special Operations Company (Barcelona), the Military Mountain College, the nº 29 “Isabel La Católica” Air Transportation Infantry Regiment, the Inspection Infantry, the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Army Staff, and as a Chief, in the Special Operations Command and in the 19th “Maderal Oleaga” Special Operations Group. He was also Chief of the Special Operations Command, the Rapid Deployment Force and the Land Forces.

In 2009, he was named Chief of the legion of the “King Alfonso XIII” Brigade and, in 2011, the Chief of the Light Forces Command. On promotion to Lieutenant General in 2014, he was in charge of the Land Forces. Finally, in February last year, he was appointed as Chief of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps - Spain (NRDC-SP).

He has participated in various international missions such as in the UNPROFOR in 1992, in Kosovo in 1999 and in Afghanistan in 2008. As part of his training he achieved the Chief of Staff of the Army diploma, the Special Operations and Paratroopers Command diploma, as well as taking the Assault Diver course and Specialist Tanks Manager course. Likewise, he also took the Advanced Infantry course in the USA and the Psychological Operations Course for Officials.