Inauguration of Lieutenant General Ballenilla as Director of the Centre for National Defence Studies (CESEDEN) and General Guillén as Director of the Armed Forces High School

• The ceremony, chaired by the Minister of Defense Margarita Robles, was attended by the Chief of Defense , Admiral General Teodoro Esteban López Calderón.

Change in the Directorate of the Centre for National Defense Studies (CESEDEN). Lieutenant General of the Marine Infantry Francisco de Paula Bisbal Pons leaves the post after his transfer to the reserve and Lieutenant General of the Army, Miguel Ballenilla y García de Gamarra, until now Director of  the Armed Forces High School (ESFAS), takes over this position.

The ceremony of inauguration as Director of CESEDEN, chaired by the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, was attended, among other civilian and military authorities, by the Chief of Defense , Admiral General Teodoro Esteban Lopez Calderon and the Chief of Staff of the Army, Army General Amador Enseñat y Berea.

After taking the oath of office, Lieutenant General Ballenilla thanked the trust placed in him to occupy this post and said that he considers himself "privileged to take up this new post as Director, not because it is a position of greater responsibility, but because I am doing so in a Center of enormous prestige built with the effort and dedication of many". He went on to say that the challenge he is taking on is to "increase this legacy of prestige that he is receiving" and that it will not be an easy task because the level achieved is very high.

Subsequently, Major General Pablo Guillén García, of the General Corps of the Air and Space Army, was sworn in as Director of the Armed Forces  High School (ESFAS). General Guillén was appointed to this position on January 9 and previously held the position of Director of the Technical Cabinet of the Minister of Defense.

General Guillén also expressed his gratitude for the trust placed in him to take charge of this new assignment. He emphasized that he will contribute all his experience, knowledge and training for the proper functioning of the ESFAS, whose work is fundamental for the training of the officers of the Armed Forces.  

The Chief of Defence , Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, in his speech, had words of gratitude for both of them for their brilliant professional careers and also for their families who have accompanied them during these years. He wished them all the best in this new assignment for which he assured that he had no doubt that they would know how to "continue the work undertaken by their predecessors and surpass new milestones".