Major General Mikhail Dmitrov Popov ( bg, Михаил Димитров Попов; born 23 December 1963) is a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and military leader who is the current Commander of the

Bulgarian Land Forces The Bulgarian Land Forces ( bg, Сухопътни войски на България, Sukhopŭtni voĭski na Bŭlgariya, lit=Ground Forces of Bulgaria) are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. The Land Forces were established ...

since 2017. He was born in

Sliven Sliven ( bg, Сливен ) is the eighth-largest city in Bulgaria and the administrative and industrial centre of Sliven Province and municipality in Northern Thrace. Sliven is famous for its heroic Haiduts who fought against the Ottoman Turk ...

, in the south-eastern part of the

Bulgarian People's Republic The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; bg, Народна Република България (НРБ), ''Narodna Republika Balgariya, NRB'') was the official name of Bulgaria, when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the ...

on 23 December 1963. He graduated from Dobri Chintulov High School in 1981 from which he joined the

Bulgarian People's Army The Bulgarian People's Army ( bg, Българска народна армия, БНА, translit=Balgarska narodna armiya, BNA) was the army of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. It comprised the Bulgarian Land Forces, Air Force and Air Defence, ...

(BNA) shortly thereafter. In the 4 years that followed, he studied at the Vasil Levski Military All-Army University in

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo ( bg, Велико Търново, Veliko Tărnovo, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a town in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. Often referred as the "''City of the Tsars''", Veliko Tarnovo ...

specializing in

Intelligence assessment Intelligence assessment, or simply intel, is the development of behavior forecasts or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organisation, based on wide ranges of available overt and covert information (intelligence). Assessments d ...

before graduating in 1985. After graduating, he immediately became the commander of an intelligence platoon, a position he held for one year before serving in an intelligence company until 1988. 3 years after the fall of communism in Bulgaria, he joined the newly established

Bulgarian Armed Forces The Bulgarian Army ( bg, Българска армия, Bŭlgarska armiya) is the military of Bulgaria. The commander-in-chief is the president of Bulgaria. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for political leadership, while overall military ...

where he first served as a cadet in the

Georgi Rakovski Military Academy The Georgi Rakovski Military Academy ( bg, Военна академия „Георги Стойков Раковски“), based in Sofia, is Bulgaria's oldest military institution of higher education. It is named after Bulgarian revolutionary ...

. He continued his intelligence career in the armed forces, serving as a commander of a reconnaissance battalion before commanding an infantry battalion in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in 2004. From 2005-2006, he studied at the

United States Army War College The United States Army War College (USAWC) is a U.S. Army educational institution in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on the 500-acre (2 km2) campus of the historic Carlisle Barracks. It provides graduate-level instruction to senior military offic ...

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Carlisle is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. Popov would later become the head of a Bulgarian contingent in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

in 2011. Popov had been the leader of many brigades including the 68th Special Forces brigade before being appointed as deputy commander of the Land Forces in 2015. He would serve in this position until becoming the commander of the

in April 2017 by order of President

Rumen Radev Rumen Georgiev Radev ( bg, Румен Георгиев Радев ; born 18 June 1963) is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who is the current president of Bulgaria since 22 January 2017. Radev previously served as higher command ...

. He was awarded the Polish Army Bronze Medal by Polish Minister of Defense

Jerzy Szmajdziński Jerzy Andrzej Szmajdziński (, 9 April 1952 – 10 April 2010) was a Polish politician who was a Deputy Marshal of Polish Sejm and previously served as Minister of Defence. He was a candidate for President of Poland in the 2010 election. Szma ...

in 2004, as well as a personal weapon by the Bulgarian Minister of Defense Nikolay Svinarov.

References

Bulgarian generals 1963 births Living people {{Bulgaria-bio-stub