Lieutenant General Fernández Asensio, New Deputy Chief of the Army Staff

Lieutenant General Jesús Carlos Fernández Asensio, to date commander of the Personnel Command, has been appointed Deputy Chief of the Army Staff in the Cabinet meeting held this morning at the Moncloa Palace.  He replaces Lieutenant General Ignacio Martín Villalaín, who retired to the reserve in May, and General José Carrasco Gabaldón, who had exercised interim command of the post for three months. 
 

The new Deputy Chief of the Army Staff was born in Tetouan (Morocco) on 24th December 1950. He entered the General Military Academy in 1969 and was promoted to 1st lieutenant in July 1973. Throughout his career, he has carried out duties in Artillery units at employments from 1st lieutenant to colonel at garrisons in Jaén, Zaragoza and Huesca. Among these posts outstanding is that of commander of the 72nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment. 
 

As a General Staff Officer, he has performed duties in the Staff of the Northeast Military Region Headquarters, in that of 1st Mountain Light Infantry Brigade ‘Aragón’ Headquarters, in the Army General Staff and in that of the Pyrenees Regional Headquarters.     In 2004 he was promoted to brigadier general and named chief of the Army Inspection General Staff, in Barcelona. Promoted to major general, he was commander of the First Deputy Army Inspection General, in Madrid, and since February 2010, already a lieutenant general, had been commander of the Personnel Command. 
 

He has extensive international experience and has participated in various missions abroad: Equatorial Guinea, Central America (ONUCA), El Salvador (ONUSAL) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (SFOR). As well, he has completed numerous courses related with his specialty of Artillery and he has been awarded 13 military decorations.  
 

The Council of Ministers has also named Lieutenant General Juan Enrique Aparicio Hernández-Lastras new commander of the Personnel Command, to replace Gen. Fernández Asensio. The previous post held by Lieutenant General Aparicio has been that of commander of the Operational Logistics Force, whose Headquarters is situated in La Coruña.