Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi

Commander Hungarian Defence Forces

He earned his first degree at the Lajos Kossuth Military Academy in 1995, in the specialty field of artillery officer and surveyor engineer. In 2010, he received a Master's degree in Military Leadership from the Miklós Zrínyi National Defence University and a PhD in Military Science. He completed his senior leadership training in the USA at the Army War College in 2014.

He began his military service in 1995 in Tapolca, Hungary, as an acoustic artillery reconnaissance platoon leader and later as a staff battery platoon leader in the HDF 5th, „Csobánc” MRLS Artillery Regiment.

From 1997 he served in Pécs as Deputy Battery Commander, Training Officer, Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander of the Artillery Battalion of the combat sub-units of the 101st Miklós Zrínyi of Szigetvár Mixed Artillery Brigade of the HDF until 2001.

In 2003, he served as the Chief Doctrinal Officer of the Staff, Operations Headquarters, at the HDF Land Forces Command, Székesfehérvár. Afterwards he served as a section chief at the 25th György Klapka Rifle Brigade of the HDF, then as acting Chief of Operations in Tata, before serving as Chief of Staff, and Commander of the 34th László Bercsényi Special Operations Battalion of the HDF in Szolnok, and as Commander of the 25/88th Light Mixed Battalion of the HDF.

He held the positions of Head of Department and Acting Director at the Defence Staff Operations Directorate 2014 to 2016, until his appointment as Commander of the 5th István Bocskai Rifle Brigade of the HDF.

From 2019 he was Head of the Ministerial Secretariat of the Ministry of Defence and from 2020 he was MOD Deputy State Secretary for Human Affairs until 2021. President János Áder appointed him Commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces on 3 June 2021.

In 2007, he was Team Commander of the NATO Training Mission in Iraq, Special Operations Group, and in 2011 he was the Commander of the HDF contingent in Afghanistan.

He has received numerous military and civilian awards and decorations. Among others, he has been awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary (military section), the Service Medal of Merit, gold grade, the Officer Service Medal 2nd Class, the USAAM US Army Achievement Medal, the NATO ISAF Peacekeeping Service Medal, the Migration Crisis Management Service Medal, and in several cases the Flood Protection and Disaster Management Service Medal.

Among his civilian awards, he is the recipient of the Pro Scientia Gold Medal of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the János Korponay Memorial Ring of the Hungarian Military Science Society, the Pro Urbe Award of the City of Debrecen and Citizen of Honour of the University of Miskolc.

His hobby is parachuting, his credo is the appreciation of human values, as a result of which he was elected President of the Szolnok Honvéd Parachuting Sports Association in 2010 and Commander of the Year in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County at the Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County Regional Príma Awards in 2012.

He is credited with developing and launching the concept of the Hungarian Soldier Programme, in the spirit of which he pays special attention to the relationship between the Hungarian Defence Forces and citizens, as well as to the continuous improvement of the quality of the relationship with society.

He is the youngest commander of the Hungarian Defence Forces.