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Chief of the Defence Staff
MAJOR GENERAL GINTAUTAS ZENKEVIČIUS
Chief of Defence Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces
Brig Gen Gintautas Zenkevičius was born in Lithuania in 1962. He joined Lithuanian National Defence Voluntary Service in March 1991 while Lithuania was still under Soviet occupation. In September 1991 he joined Regular Service as an infantry officer and was commissioned in December 1991. From 1991 to 2004 he served in various command and staff positions at National Defence Voluntary Service starting from company commander, battalion commander, territorial defence region commander and finishing as Chief of Staff of National Defence Voluntary Forces.
Since 2001 he was involved in preparing for Lithuania‘s membership to NATO and worked on a few MAP cycles. He was ACOS J5 at Lithuania‘s Defence Staff when Lithuania became a member of NATO in 2004 and worked intensively on preparing for NATO Air Policing mission and adapting NATO Defence Planning Process for the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
In 2005 he planned and prepared Lithuania‘s PRT mission in Afghanistan and was the first commander of the PRT the same year.
From 2007 to the end of 2008 he was leading the first Lithuanian Armed Forces transformation Project preparing it and supervising its initial execution. The transformation involved changing the national defence planning process from threat-based to capabilities-based. Later on he assumed the position of Inspector General of the Ministry of National Defence.
In 2010-2013 he served at SHAPE in the position of Director of Management where he got a lot of experience and knowledge about NATO and ACO internal processes.
From summer 2013 to September 2014 Brig Gen Gintautas Zenkevičius was Director General Capabilities and Armaments of the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania. His responsibilities included Armed Forces capabilities planning, Armed Forces transformation and he was an Armaments Director.
From September 2014 to August 2018 he was Lithuania‘s Military Representative to NATO and the European Union.
Brig Gen Gintautas Zenkevičius completed the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College in 1999-2000, the UK Royal
College of Defence Studies in 2006, and Kaunas Polytechnic Institute. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electronics and Master of Arts degree in Defence Studies.
He is married to Snieguolė, they have two grown up children - daughter Milda and son Justinas.
| EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS | 1980-1985 - Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (Lithuania), radio technologist-constructor 1999-2000 - Joint Services Command and Staff College (UK) 1999-2000 - University of London the King's College London, Master of Arts degree in Defence Studies 2006 - Royal College of Defence Studies (UK) |
| CAREER EXPERIENCE | 1985-1991 - Constructor at a microelectronics firm 1991 - Volunteer at the National Defence Voluntary Service (NDVS) 1991-1993 - Company Commander at the NDVS Vilnius region 1993-1994 - Battalion Commander at the NDVS Vilnius region 1994 - Chief of Staff of the NDVS Vilnius region 1994-1995 - Commander of the NDVS Vilnius region 1995-1996 - Chief of Staff of the NDVS Vilnius region 1996-1997 - Deputy Chief of the Volunteer Commanders' Training Centre 1997-1999 - Chief of the Volunteer Commanders' Training Centre 2000-2001 - ACOS G3 at the National Defence Voluntary Forces HQ 2001-2004 - Chief of Staff of the National Defence Voluntary Forces 2004-2005 - ACOS J5 at the Defence Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces June-December 2005 - operational tour - PRT Commander in AFGHANISTAN 2007-2008 - Armed Forces Transformation Project Leader 2008-2010 - Inspector General of Ministry of National Defence 2010-2013 - Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) Director of Management (DOM) 2013-2014 - Director General Capabilities and Armaments of the Ministry of National Defence 2014-2018 - Lithuania's Military Representative to NATO and the European Union 2018-2019 - TRADOC Commander July 2019 - Chief of Defence Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces |
| RANKS | 1991 - 2nd Lieutenant 1993 - Lieutenant 1995 - Captain 1999 - Major 2002 - Lieutenant Colonel 2005 - Colonel 2008 - Brigadier General 2019 - Major General |
| LANGUAGE SKILLS | English, Russian |
| AWARDS | Cross of the Knight of the Order of the Cross of Vytis, National Defence System of the Republic of Lithuania Medal for Deployment on International Missions, National Defence System of the Republic of Lithuania Medal of Merit, Establishing Volunteers of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal, Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal of Merit, Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal for Distinguished Service Divisions of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal for Distinguished Service Divisions of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal for Distinguished Service Centennial of Lithuanian Armed Forces Medal, NATO Medal for Deployment on International Missions, Medal of the Kingdom of Denmark. |
