Lt Gen Pasi Välimäki (born 1 September 1965) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

military officer, serving from 1 January 2022 as the Commander of the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( Finnish: ''Maavoimat'', Swedish: ''Armén'') is the land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: the infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraf ...

Training and education

Välimäki completed his military service in 1986 at the

Armoured Brigade The Armoured Brigade ( fi, Panssariprikaati) is a Finnish Army training unit located in Parolannummi, near Hämeenlinna, in southern Finland. The brigade specialises in training tank, armoured and anti-aircraft troops. In case of mobilization, the ...

with reserve officer training, followed by staff officer studies at the National Defence University, from where he graduated in 1989. He holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from

Aalto University Aalto University ( fi, Aalto-yliopisto; sv, Aalto-universitetet) is a public research university located in Espoo, Finland. It was established in 2010 as a merger of three major Finnish universities: the Helsinki University of Technology, the ...

(2010), and Master of Science in National Security Strategy from the National War College in Washington, DC (2016).

Career

He has held various posts in the intelligence and signal corps, both in unit commander and training roles. Outside Finland, he has worked as UN Military Observer in the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

(

UNPROFOR The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR; also known by its French acronym FORPRONU: ''Force de Protection des Nations Unies'') was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav War ...

UNMOP UN Mission of Observers in Prevlaka (UNMOP) was established on 15 January 1996 in Security Council Resolution 1038 as a peacekeeping mission to monitor the demilitarization of the disputed Prevlaka peninsula by carrying out daily foot and vehicl ...

), Chief of Intelligence of the Finnish Battalion Kosovo ( KFOR), Liaison Officer at the

US Joint Forces Command United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense. USJFCOM was a functional command that provided specific services to the military. The last commander was Army Gen. Raymond ...

in Norfolk, Virginia, and Deputy Chief of Operations, Regional Command North HQ,

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

in Afghanistan. In 2017, Välimäki was appointed as the Commander of

Karelia Brigade Karelia Brigade (''Finnish: Karjalan Prikaati'', KARPR) is one of the three Finnish Army readiness brigades. It is currently based at Valkeala. With some three thousand soldiers it is the second largest brigade in Finland. It is the only Finnish ...

, where he served until 2019. From there he moved to the post of Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, of the

Finnish Defence Forces The Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (whic ...

, until his appointment as the Commander of the Finnish Army from January 2022.

References

External links

Välimäki profile
at the Finnish Defence Forces website {{DEFAULTSORT:Välimäki, Pasi Finnish lieutenant generals People from Turku 1965 births Living people