Vice Admiral Rodrigo Álvarez Aguirre is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

who serves as the incumbent Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Defence of the Chilean Armed Forces.

Background

He was born in

Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a city and commune on central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within the Valparaíso Region, and it is Chile's fourth largest city w ...

on January 26, 1961, and finished his studies at the Colegio Calasanz in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

. He entered the Naval Academy and graduated as a midshipman on January 1, 1981. He has a Bachelor in Science of Engineering degree with a major in Electronics, and a Master of Science in Maritime Affairs from the Chilean Naval War College, before becoming a professor in Naval Operations in 1997. He served aboard the Chilean

County-class destroyer The County class was a class of British guided missile destroyers, the first such warships built by the Royal Navy. Designed specifically around the Seaslug anti-aircraft missile system, the primary role of these ships was area air defence aro ...

s Capitán Prat (D11), and Blanco Encalada (D-15). He also served in the Fleet Training Command, and in the Staff of the Fleet as an advisor and department head. He is also a General Staff Officer of the Air War Academy and the Naval War Academy; an Execution Engineer in Aeronautical Systems from the Air War Academy; and earned a Diploma in Peace Operations of the Naval War Academy. His main destinations include his command as Commander of Aviation Group No. 4 of the MINUSTAH Helicopter Group in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

; became deputy director of the School of Aviation; became Director of Operations and Commander in Chief of the 1st Air Brigade and also served as Defense and Air Attaché of Chile in Israel. A known Specialist in Electronic Naval Engineering and General Staff Management, he served as the commanding officer of the Uribe (LM-39), and the Almirante Latorre (FFG-14) in 1992, becoming her first commanding officer. He was also assigned at the Directorate of Programming, Investigation and Development at the Fourth Naval Region Staff. He also toured overseas, including the Chilean Naval Mission in the United States, the Chilean embassy in Israel, and the Chilean Technical Inspectorate Office in the Netherlands during the purchase and transfer of the Karel Doorman-class frigates and

Jacob van Heemskerck-class frigate The ''Jacob van Heemskerck''-class frigate was a class of frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy. They were designed to be an air defence version of the . The helicopter was replaced by a Standard medium range surface-to-air missile (SAM) syst ...

s. He became the Commander of the Fifth Naval Zone on November 22, 2010, and was promoted as Commodore. He was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in 2012, and was named the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Navy in November 2012. He was named the Commander in Chief of the Fleet on December 5, 2014. He was named the Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff in January 2016, and was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral, before becoming the Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Defence on November 6, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez Aguirre, Rodrigo 1961 births Chilean admirals 20th-century Chilean Navy personnel 21st-century Chilean Navy personnel Living people