José Julio Rodríguez Fernández (born June 8, 1948) is a

Spanish Air Force The Spanish Air and Space Force () is the aerial and space warfare branch of the Spanish Armed Forces. History Early stages Hot air balloons have been used with military purposes in Spain as far back as 1896. In 1905, with the help of Al ...

general who was the Chief of the Defence Staff from 2008 until 2012. He transferred to the reserve with administrative effects of 31 December 2011. On 18 July 2008, Rodríguez Fernández was appointed the Chief of the Defence Staff of the

Spanish Armed Forces The Spanish Armed Forces are in charge of guaranteeing the sovereignty and independence of the Spain, Kingdom of Spain, defending its territorial integrity and the constitutional order, according to the functions entrusted to them by the Spanish ...

, replacing Felix Sanz Roldán. Rodríguez Fernández retired as Chief of the Defence Staff on Monday 2 January 2012, to be succeeded by General Admiral

Fernando García Sánchez Fernando Garcia Sánchez (born September 25, 1953) is a retired Admiral general (Spain), Fleet Admiral and the Chief of the Defence Staff (Spain), Chief of Defence Staff of the Spanish Armed Forces, he took the office from December 2011 to March 2 ...

, the former Vice-Chief of the Naval Staff.

Career

He has served as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

and has also flown transport aircraft, he later studied management and has graduated from Air Staff training in Spain, the United States and Britain. He was initially assigned first to the 21 Wing base in

Morón de la Frontera Morón de la Frontera () is a Spanish town in Province of Seville, Seville province, Andalusia, South-East of Seville. Situated in the south of the province, it is the center of the region that bears the same name and is the head of one of the 85 ...

. After his promotion to captain, transferred to 11 Wing at

Manises Manises (, ) is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Horta Oest in the Valencian Community, Spain. Located in the province of Valencia, it had 30,693 inhabitants in 2018 (NSI) and is famous for its pottery and being the location of Valencia Airp ...

. Since 1982 he has been assigned to Logistics Support Command and the Development Programme for European fighter aircraft

Eurofighter The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, supersonic, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems ...

Typhoon in Munich. He became Head of Logistic Command after three years (1991–1994) in the unit of the F-18 Wing 31 in

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

. In 2000 was elevated to the rank of brigadier general, occupying the post of Head of Planning Division of Staff and also president of Project Refuelling in

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. After promotion to major general became responsible for administrative aspects of the Spanish Strategic Plan for Telecommunications and Information Systems and Director General of Armament and Equipment of the Spanish Ministry of Defence. On 31 December 2011 he was transferred to the reserve, pending his retirement. He holds, among other awards, the Grand Cross of the

Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegildo Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

and the Grand Cross of Aeronautical Merit. From 2020 to 2021, he served as the chief of staff to the Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Rights and 2030 Agenda Pablo Iglesias.

Decorations and badges

References

External links

NATO profile
1948 births Spanish generals Living people Grand Crosses of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegild Chiefs of the Defence Staff (Spain) {{Spain-mil-bio-stub