The Chief of the Army Staff Receives Military Sport’s Elite

For another year, the Spanish Army’s elite sportspersons have gathered in Madrid. The Chief of the Army Staff, Army General Jaime Domínguez Buj, this morning has received at Buenavista Palace, Army Headquarters, our best sportspersons and collaborators, an example of lives dedicated to effort and self-improvement. 

The Chief of the Army Staff has presided over a simple ceremony accompanied by Lieutenant General Francisco Puentes, commander of the Training and Doctrine Command.

In turn, Colonel Rafael García, chief of the Central Board on Physical Education and Sports permanent secretariat, introduced each of the 17 servicepersons present in the audience, who have notably contributed to the image of the Army, by giving a brief review of their professional career.  The colonel referred to them as ‘models of encouragement and dedication for their respective units, the Army and Spain’.

Following the introduction, the Chief of the Army Staff congratulated the guests both for their boost to sport in their respective units as well as for the fine results obtained this year and in the previous ones.  The army general declared himself to be ‘a committed sport supporter’ and assured that if sport is good for anyone, ‘it is even much better for a serviceperson’. 

In these times of economic austerity, Gen. Domínguez Buj wished to encourage those attending to ‘continue training’ from the conviction that sport ‘is your way of life’ and that our servicepersons ‘not only make an effort to win, but also to improve themselves’. 

The collaborators –who with their work promote sport within the Army- present at the audience have been General  Francisco Arribas and Command Sergeant Major of the Army Juan A. Baena (both from the Special Operations Command), General Francisco Soria (High Mountain Military Group), Colonel Gonzalo Jayme (Army Logistic Support Command), Lieutenant Colonel Miguel A. Allo (Mountain and Special Operations Military School), Lieutenant Colonel José L. Rodríguez (General Directorate on Recruitment and Military Training), Lieutenant Colonel Eduardo Aragón (Infantry Academy), Lieutenant Colonel Ismael Warleta (Army Logistic Support Command), Major José Guardiola (Canary Island Command) and Sergeant Major Víctor Viguera (Canary Island Command).

At the same time, the sportspersons called to the audience have been Major Mª de los Ángeles Marí (Army Advanced Technical School),  Mayor Alfonso Dieste (General Military Academy), Sergeant Major Julio Gallegos (Training and Doctrine Command), Private Paula Viviana (4th Legion Regiment ‘Alejandro Farnesio’), Private Aarón Medina (50th Light Infantry Regiment ‘Canarias’) and Private Pascual Falcó (Special Operations Command). In all, nine sports disciplines have been represented.