General Alberto Hernández Abadía de Barbará takes office as Head of Joint Staff’s Joint Health Directorate

• Previously, the awarding ceremony of General Officers’ symbols took place

Medical Brigadier General Alberto Hernández Abadía de Barbará took office as Head of Joint Staff’s Joint Health Directorate today, at the Defence Staff Headquarters in Madrid.

The ceremony was presided over by the Chief of Defence Staff (JEMAD in Spanish), Admiral General Teodoro E. López Calderón.

General Hernández Abadía began his speech by thanking the JEMAD for having placed his trust in him to take over this position. He also thanked the Medical General Manuel Guiote Linares for sponsoring the ceremony. Afterwords, he reviewed his professional career, highlighting his participation in many international deployments, starting in 1993, with the newly created Land Advanced Medical Echelon in Bosnia and Herzegovina to the last one in ROLE 2 in Herat, Afghanistan.

He recalled the work carried out along with other colleagues to ensure that the National Military Telemedicine System was considered a reference for the member countries of NATO. And he also passed through the Air Force Medical Unit for Air Evacuation.

General Hernández Abadía ended his speech with the purpose of working in partnership with all the Joint Health Directorate members, "to develop aspects such as Health Protection for the Force and Health Intelligence".

Later, the Chief of Joint Staff, Lieutenant General Fernando García González-Valerio, took the floor, highlighting the importance of the mission that General Hernández Abadía undertakes today, assuming this Joint Health Directorate. He recalled that he has many challenges ahead of him, such as "following the path laid out by his predecessor, General Jose María Delgado, continuing to improve the capabilities of military healthcare and the entire international representation of Spanish operational military healthcare". JEMACON thanked him for stepping forward to take up this position and reaffirmed his belief that he will perform it with great professionalism.

The appointment of the Brigadier General, of the Military Medical Corps, as Head of the Joint Health Directorate was approved by Order 430/13308/22 of July 29 of the Defence Minister. Prior to this position, the General held the position of Health and Expert Support Deputy Medical Inspector at the Health General Inspection.