national
Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón, NEW CHOD
Former Navy Chief of Staff replaces Air Force General
Miguel Ángel Villarroya as Chief of Defence
ON 28 January, the parade
ground of the Ministry
of Defence hosted the
swearing-in ceremony
of Admiral General Teodoro López
Calderón as Chief of Defence, taking
over from Air Force General Miguel
Ángel Villarroya. The new head of the
Armed Forces operational structure,
with the rank of Secretary of State and
main advisor to Spain´s Prime Minister
in the military sphere, was sworn in at
a brief ceremony presided by Defence
Minister Margarita Robles, after
having held the post of Navy Admiral
Chief of Staff for almost four years.
The ceremony was attended, among
other authorities, by his predece-
ssor; Secretary of State for De-
fence, Esperanza Casteleiro; Director
of the CNI, Paz Esteban; Under-
secretary for Defence,
Amparo Valcarce; Army
and Air Force Chiefs of
Staff, Francisco Javier
Varela and Javier Salto;
and Director General of
the Civil Guard, María
Gámez.
A mixed company
of the Army, Air Force
and Navy rendered ho-
nours while the National
Anthem was played at
the beginning of the
ceremony. This was
followed by the swearingin
ceremony of Admiral
López Calderón, which
was then formalised by
the Minister of Defence,
who asked the members
of the Armed Forces,
“by order of His Majesty the King”,
to recognise him as the new CHOD,
“respecting and obeying him in all that
he commands concerning service”, as
indicated in military protocol.
“We are holding the most important
handover ceremony of the Armed
Forces”. These were the first words that
Admiral López Calderón addressed to
those attending his inauguration. “An
unexpected handover, caused by an
unfortunate circumstance,” he added,
alluding to the decision taken by Air
Force General Villarroya to voluntarily
step down as CHOD. López Calderón
expressed his “admiration and respect”
for his predecessor for having made this
gesture “which honours him, insofar as
it is in accordance with the principles
and values enshrined in our Royal
Ordinances for the Armed Forces”.
With this attitude, “he has shown
us his great professional and human
qualities”, as well as his “attitude for
dialogue and conciliation” at the head
of the military operational structure
“with which he has undoubtedly
achieved harmony in everything that
affects joint action, which is not easy to
achieve”.
In taking command of the Defence
Staff, Admiral General López Calderón
assumes “an important and exciting
challenge”, aware of the “volatile and
uncertain global strategic scenario
and the risks and threats hanging over
our society and its values, currently
threatened by the pandemic that is
ravaging us”.
In his opinion, the lines of separation
between internal and external security
and the lines that differentiate a situation
of peace from one of
crisis are becoming increa-
singly blurred, “creating
a grey zone in which the
legal consideration of
armed conflict becomes
difficult to determine”.
Against this backdrop,
the new CHOD advocated
“coordinated action” at
political, civilian, economic
and military levels “in
a multi-domain sphere”,
bearig in mind, moreover,
that military operations
“have increased their multidimensional
nature, adding
cyber combat to land,
maritime, aerospace and
special operations”.
Addressing the Minister
of Defence, Teodoro López
The Minister of Defence and Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón
at the headquarters of the Defence Ministry.
10 Revista Española de Defensa April 2021