Joint Operations Command rewards art and culture on its 20th Anniversary

• With the sponsorship of the Systems Engineering for the Defence of Spain (ISDEFE in Spanish), the Operations Command awards prizes in the categories of photography, literary work and painting, in the framework of the anniversary of its creation.

Talent, dedication and art have come together to express how the values of our Armed Forces are an important part of culture: ‘Because today, with your works, with your art, you remind us of what we are and our mission: national and international security’. This was stated by the Commander of the Operations Command, Lieutenant General José Antonio Agüero Martínez, during the 20th Anniversary Awards Ceremony of the Operations Command (MOPS in Spanish). The ceremony, chaired by the Chief of Defence, Admiral General Teodoro E. López Calderón, was held at the ISDEFE facilities, sponsor of the awards.

These awards, of an artistic and literary nature, are aimed at promoting and disseminating the activities carried out by this joint Spanish Defence body, such as the MOPS. To this end, they have been divided into three main categories: painting; image and photography, in which two different prizes are awarded, the best photograph and the best photograph of human interest; and finally, literary creation.

Lieutenant General Agüero wished to give a special acknowledgement ‘to those who supported us in the selection of the prize-winning works in the 20th anniversary competition, world-class artists and professionals such as the painter Augusto Ferrer Dalmau, the sculptor Salvador Amaya, the writer Lorenzo Silva and the journalists Miguel Ángel de la Fuente and Oscar Mijallo’, who were present at the ceremony.

‘But the real protagonists were the award winners, who with their works have captured unique moments of our Armed Forces and have expressed true emotions through their photographic lenses, their brilliant pens and their precise brushes,’ described Major Francisco Javier García of the MOPS, who directed the gala, alongside presenter Alejandra Navas. Works awarded for going beyond capturing a reality, showing the ability to tell stories, transmit messages and arouse emotions, all based on the work of the men and women who are in operations for the security of everyone.

For his part, the Chief of Defence wanted to remember the six commanders who have led the MOPS over the years, thanking Lieutenant General Andrés Navas and the current Director General of Defence Policy, Lieutenant General Fernando López del Pozo, for their presence. ‘’ During these twenty years I have seen this Command grow to become an absolutely essential element in our Armed Forces,‘’ said the Admiral General.

Not forgetting the jury and the award winners, the Chief of Defence also wanted to make a special mention of the Brass Quintet of the General Air Command of the Air and Space Army, ‘who have given us a different vision of music, putting the finishing touch to this night of culture and Defence’.

'Congratulations to the MOPS because, as I said, it is an essential element that was born so that the Armed Forces had an element capable of synchronising the Forces to carry out joint action at the time of operations, something that has already been achieved, but which we have to continue working on day by day, to become capable of integrating in other areas such as the multi-domain. To know how to win, you have to know how to command‘, and right now the FAS has a Command that has shown that it knows how to command and they have demonstrated this over the last 20 years’, concluded the Admiral General.

This celebration, as the Commander of MOPS stated, ‘is the culmination of a series of events held throughout the year. These could not have taken place without the sponsorship of many. I would like to thank, first of all, the generosity of our host today, ISDEFE, but also that of DSV, AIR EUROPA, TELEFÓNICA, AMPER, SENER, AIRBUS, INDRA, HISDESAT, TEDAE, AESMIDE, ESCRIBANO, GAHN and NAVANTIA. All the support provided by these institutions has been channelled through the Aeronautics and Astronautics Foundation of the Spanish Air Force, to whom I am especially grateful for their support.

20 years of Operations Command

As Lieutenant General Agüero explained, ‘in the case of the Operations Command, its youth is also driven by the evolution of the global geopolitical space, an inexhaustible source of new paradigms, challenges and threats, to which we must continually adapt in order to be able to confront them successfully. There is a danger that new conflicts may surprise institutions that have prepared themselves exclusively to deal with previous ones.

The global geopolitical space has changed considerably since Spain first sent observers to a UN mission in 1989, just as the way conflicts are managed has evolved since the end of the Cold War a decade earlier.

From an operational point of view, the creation of the Operations Command in 2004 is a consequence of the evolution of armed conflicts, whose complexity makes it necessary to manage them at different levels and in different domains.

Currently, the Operations Command essentially performs three tasks; it plans, conducts and supervises. It plans and conducts operations to confront, exclusively with national means, threats that are not shared with the Security Organisations to which Spain belongs.

This variety of scenarios and roles testifies to Spain's relevance on the international scene.

Awarded works:

• First prize ‘Best overall photograph’: work entitled ‘Binomio’. Author: Full Corporal Miguel Ángel Sánchez Escribano.
• Second prize ‘Best general photograph’: work entitled ‘Juan Sebastián ElCano en los canales Patagónicos’. Author: Ship-of-the-line Lieutenant Carlos Celedonio Ameyugo Fernández del Campo.
• First prize for the ‘Best human interest photograph’: work entitled ‘Small example’. Author: Master Sergeant (OR-8) Jorge Ruiz Dueso.
• Second prize for ‘Best human interest photograph’: work entitled ‘Loyalty’. Author: Private Sergio Rodríguez Rey.
• First prize for ‘Literature’: work entitled ‘La delgada línea’. Author: Major Miguel González Molina.
• Second prize for ‘Literature’; work entitled ‘Don Juan de Moreto’. Author: Gloria Fernández Sánchez.
• First prize for ‘Painting’; work entitled ‘Desafiando la calma de la Bahía’. Author: José María Sánchez Gutiérrez.
• Second prize for ‘Painting’: ‘Vientos de Coraje y Paz’ (Winds of Courage and Peace). Author: Yas Vázquez Ramírez.