Lieutenant General José Antonio Herrera is sworn in as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Air and Space Army Lieutenant General José Antonio Herrera Llamas has been sworn in today as Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (EMACON) of the Defence General Staff. He replaces Lieutenant General of the Army Fernando García González-Valerio, who has been in command of EMACON since 2020. The ceremony was presided over by the Spanish Chief of Defence (JEMAD), Admiral Teodoro Esteban López Calderón.

 

Following the reading of the appointment order, Lieutenant General Herrera took the oath of office. He then addressed the audience in a speech in which he first emphasised the honour and the challenge that ‘leading the magnificent team that makes up the Joint Chiefs of Staff’ represents for him. ‘Teamwork must undoubtedly be the backbone of our way of acting as the JEMAD General Staff. But that is not enough; we must maintain a very close relationship with our colleagues in other organisations, as well as with the Army and the Navy, in order to provide the best possible advice to the JEMAD on the matters for which it is responsible,’ said the new JEMACON.

 

For his part, the JEMAD began by thanking Lieutenant General González-Valerio for ‘his dedication, professionalism and commitment throughout his active life, and especially in his last stage as JEMACON, as well as his loyalty, frankness and flexibility in the search for solutions, always trying to achieve the best for our Armed Forces’.

 

The JEMAD then addressed Lieutenant General Herrera, to whom he said that, during his command, he will have to face ‘complex challenges, largely derived from the convulsive times we are living through’. He also expressed his confidence that he is the right person to face them for two main reasons: having already been part of EMACON, first as head of the Force Development Division and then as head of the Plans Division, and for his extensive and complete military career.