General Gheorghiță Vlad

Born in 1969, Bucharest, General Vlad commanded several structures throughout his military career, including 2nd Infantry Division (Buzău), the National Joint Training Center (Cincu), Head of Intelligence at the Land Operational Component, and the 631st Tank Battalion. During his academic career, he completed the "Security and Good Governance" postgraduate programme at the National Defense College, the "Peacekeeping Operations" course at Oberammergau, Germany, a master's degree in "International Relations and Security Studies" at Lucian Blaga University, anda master's degree in strategic studies at the US Army War College, Carlisle, USA. Career achievements include National Order of the Star of Romania in the rank of Knight, the National Order of Faithful Service in the rank of Knight, the Emblem of Merit in the Service of the Romanian Army, 3rd class, the Emblem of Merit in the Service of Peace, 1st class, the Emblem of Honor of the Romanian Army and the Emblem of Honor of the Defense General Staff. He was previously Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff prior to his position as Chief beginning in 2023.