Major General Raimundo Rodriguez Roca was born in Villa Cisneros (Sahara), Spain, in 1963.
Major General Roca assumed his duties as Deputy Chief of Staff Strategic Enablement of Supreme Allied Powers Europe on 30 July 2021. His previous assignment was as the Commander of the Army Special Operations Command (SOC).
He joined the General Military Academy of Zaragoza in 1982. During his more than three decades of professional service, he has been serving in the Special Operations Forces and Headquarters just under fourteen years. He has also spent six and half years in Spanish Legion Units. Moreover, he has stayed about sixteen years in a variety of General Staff positions. Overall, his time exercising direct command of forces is well over seventeen years.
He received his commission as an Infantry First Lieutenant at the General Military Academy of Zaragoza in 1988 and was assigned to the Tercio «Gran Capitan», First Regiment of the Spanish Legion, in Melilla as a Platoon Leader for three years. After his promotion to Captain in 1991, he served first in the Mountain Forces Regiment «Arapiles 62» in Barcelona province; then, he was moved to the Special Operations Group «Santa Fe II» in Granada where he developed his duties as a Company Commander for six years. During his last two years as Captain, he accomplished a tour of duty in a Division level HQ in Canary Island.
In 2001 after his graduation at the Joint General Staff College and promotion to Major, he was posted as staff officer in the Analysis and Investigation Directorate, Spanish Army Training and Doctrine Command. Later, he was assigned to the Army Special Operations Command in Alicante as a G-5, Plans Chief.
As a Lieutenant Colonel, he served in the Command for Operations, Armed Forces General Staff in Madrid. In 2010, he was posted as the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Legion's Brigade in Almeria. Following his promotion to Colonel in 2015, he was designated as Commanding Officer of Infantry Regiment «Principe no 3» (founded in 1537) in Oviedo, Asturias. At the end of that tour, he was moved back to Madrid to lead a special project as Chief of Future Force 35 Center, belonging to the Plan Division of the Army General Staff.
He was promoted to Brigade General in December 2018 and was initially named as Advisor of Vice Army Chief of Staff until he was given the Command of the Army SOC in March 2019.
Major General Rodríguez Roca's overseas deployments include MINUGUA (NU mission in Guatemala) in 1997, KFOR, Kosovo in 2003 and ISAF, Afghanistan, twice, in 2009 and in 2010.
Major General Roca is a Joint General Staff College graduate with honours and is qualified for commanding both Special Operations Forces and Airborne Units. Additionally, he completed the Command and General Staff Course in Leavenworth, Kansas, US (class 2007).
He also holds a PhD –Doctorate– in Political Science by Granada University (Security studies and Analysis) and earned a previous Diploma of Advanced Studies in Political Science and Administration by the same University.
He is married to his wife Ada.
Current as of August 2021