Mission Force Commander
Brigadier General Fernando Luis Gracia Herreiz
Brigadier General Fernando Luis Gracia Herreiz is the 15th Commander of the EUTM Mali.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Brigadier General Fernando Luis Gracia Herreiz was born in Zaragoza (Spain) on the 31st March 1964. He joined the Military Academy in 1983 and after completing his studies he was commissioned as Infantry Officer with the rank of 1st Lieutenant in 1988. His first assignment was the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Spanish Legion in Melilla (Africa) as Recce Platoon Commander. In 1989, he completed the Special Operations Course.
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In July 1991, he was promoted to the rank of Captain being assigned to the 6th Infantry Regiment/ 2nd Battalion in Badajoz as Commander of a Mechanized Company. Between 1994 and 1995 he deployed in Dracevo (Bosnia-Hertzegovina) as a part of the UNPROFOR HQ Spanish Battalion. Back in Spain, he was assigned again to Melilla to the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Spanish Legion as Commander of a Support Company. While posted in Melilla, he deployed in 1997 in Korenica (Croatia) as a part of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Yugoslavia (ECMMY). Afterwards, he commanded a Light Infantry Company.
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In July 2000 he was promoted to the rank of Major. In September 2001, after graduating from the Spanish Armed Forces General Staff College, he was appointed as Analyst to the Army Training and Doctrine Command/ Directorate of Training and Education in Granada. In March 2004, he deployed as Deputy Chief of the G2 Branch in the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) in Khartoum (Sudan). June 2006, he was posted as Chief of the Logistic Battalion Coordination Cell of the of The Spanish Legion Brigade in Almería. September 2006, he was deployed as G5 of the UNIFIL HQ Sector East Brigade in Marjayoun (Lebanon). In March 2008 he was deployed as Chief of Operations of the ISAF Spanish PRT in Quar-i-naw (Afghanistan).
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In July 2008, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel being assigned to the Army Training and Doctrine Command/ Directorate of Training and Education in Granada. In July 2010, he was posted to the 2nd Infantry Regiment to command its 2nd Mechanized Battalion in Cordoba. In 2013, he returned to the UNIFIL as the Spanish Battalion Commander in the Sector East Brigade in Marjayoun (Lebanon). In September of 2013, when assigned to the Army General Staff/ Division of Operations in Madrid, he was moved to the NATO Defense Collage in Rome (Italy) as part of the 123 Senior Course.
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In July 2015, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel being assigned as Chief of Strategy and Strategic Studies/ Division of Strategy into the Spanish General Staff in Madrid. In March of 2016, he is appointed as the Spanish Representative into the Military Framework to Counter Violent Extremist Organizations. In September 2018, he deployed as Spanish Senior Representative in the Coalition Coordination Center in the USCENTCOM in Tampa, Florida (US).
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In March 2019, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and assigned as adviser of the Army Training and Doctrine Commander in Granada. On 6th September 2019, he is posted as DCOS OPS of the Eurocorps Headquarters in Strasbourg (France).
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BG Gracia has been honored with many National and international decorations. Among them the Different Spanish Military merit and San Hermenegildo Order medals, different Spanish Army Military merit crosses, UNPROFOR mission medal, ECMMY mission medal, two UNIFIL medals, UNMIS mission medal, NATO ISAF Medal, Lebanese Army Medal of Merit. He speaks fluently English. He is married to Francisca Perez since 1991 and the proud father of Fernando (Graduated in Law) and Pablo (Student of Civil Engineering in the University of Granada).
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