Lieutenant General with three stars Vlad Gheorghiță is the new Chief of the Defense Staff, replacing General Daniel Petrecu, whose mandate has expired. The new head of the Romanian Army was inaugurated on Thursday in a ceremony attended by Klaus Iohannis.
The new Chief of the Defense Staff assumes a four-year mandate on Thursday, inaugurated in a ceremony held at the Monument of the Heroes of the Fatherland – the National Defense University “Carol I.”
Lieutenant General with three stars Vlad Gheorghiță replaces General Daniel Petrescu as the head of the Romanian Army, whose mandate has expired. Lieutenant General Vlad Gheorghiță is 54 years old, and since August 2022, he has been the Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff.
From February 2020 to August 2022, he served as the Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff for Operations and Training. From August 2017 to February 2020, he was the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division “Getica” Buzău, and between 2016 and 2017, he was in command of the National Joint Training Center “Getica” in Cincu.
Between 2005 and 2014, he held various positions: commander of the 631st Tank Battalion, chief of planning in the Operational Service at the General Staff of the Land Forces, chief of intelligence in the Land Operational Component, and commander of the 1st Mechanized Brigade “Argedava.”
In 2007, he participated as a staff officer at the Multinational Force Command in Iraq.
President Klaus Iohannis, present at the inauguration ceremony of the new Chief of the Army, told the new Chief that he is taking over the mandate in a challenging security context.
“Today, you are taking over the position of Chief of the Defense Staff in a particularly dynamic and challenging security context. It is your responsibility to continue the process of adapting the Army to new challenges and maintaining a high level of combat readiness for the forces. From this perspective, it is necessary to conduct a strategic analysis of defense to determine whether the current force structure of the Romanian Army and the level approved by Parliament more than two decades ago still correspond to the current and constantly evolving risks and threats. We have major equipment programs in progress and in perspective, considering that the defense budget allocation has increased this year to 2.5% of GDP. However, more decisive measures are needed to revitalize the national defense industry, including through industrial cooperation actions, so that we can produce more ammunition and equipment needed in the country. These, along with a high level of military training, will ensure a strong and credible defense capability adapted to new security challenges.”