Mr. Javier A. Carrasco Pena was born in San Fernando (Cádiz) in 1969 but grew up in Ferrol (A Coruña).
In 1988, he joined the Spanish Naval Academy (Escuela Naval Militar in Marín, Pontevedra) and in 1993, he was promoted to Lieutenant of the “Cuerpo de Intendencia” (specialized in finance, procurement and logistics). He was awarded an Extraordinary Naval Merit Medal for graduating at the top of his class.
In 1993, he took up his first assignment as Head of the Administrative Economic Service (Servicio Económico Administrativo, SEA) and Supply Branch of the Corvette "Descubierta". After three years of service on surface vessels, participating in naval exercises and operations in the Mediterranean Sea, he was assigned to the Spanish Navy School of Specialization in Finance and Supply at the Naval Base of La Graña (A Coruña) where he held the position of Head of SEA and professor of financial management.
In 1997, Mr. Carrasco was appointed Deputy Chief of the Subsistence Service of the Northwestern Maritime Region where he provided support to the units assigned to the stated region. During this time, he was involved in large-scale logistics exercises and in the adoption of a new Chart of Accounts and a new financial and warehouse management system.
In 2000, he was appointed Head of Purchasing and Contracting of the newly created NATO Joint Headquarters South West (JHQSW) in Retamares (Madrid) where he was responsible for the start-up of the JHQSW Purchasing and Contracting Branch and the set-up of the procurement function.
In 2002, Mr. Carrasco became NATO Civilian and worked initially in the Purchasing and Contracting Service of SHAPE and later as Head of the SHAPE Contract Management Section. In 2004, he received the SHAPE COS Commendation for Exceptional Services due to his contribution to the establishment of the framework contracts for the provision of strategic airlift support services in Afghanistan and the implementation of the SHAPE purchase-card program.
In 2006, he was reassigned to the NATO Communications and Command Control Agency (NC3A, former NCI Agency) in Brussels, where he was responsible for contract management of various information systems and functional services under the Bi -SC AIS Program (e.g., MCCIS, TOPFAS, INTEL-FS, and FinS) In 2008, he returned to SHAPE as Head of the Financial Management Systems (FMS) Service where he initiated the consolidation of the financial systems of all ACO commands.
In 2010, he was appointed Head of Procurement and Supplies of the NATO International Staff. He held this position for 10 years. During this period, he led significant changes in the NATO IS procurement function, which included the development of new policy and the adoption of technological advancements and modern procurement practices such as category management and spend analysis. Further, he was also involved in the move and transition to the new NATO Headquarters, the implementation of NATO Shared Services, and the review of the NATO Financial Regulations and Financial Rules and Procedures.
In 2020, he took up the post of Deputy Financial Controller and in his new role facilitated the revision of NATO IS Accounting Policies, the adoption of a new internal-control framework, and the upgrade of the ERP system.
In July 2022, Mr. Carrasco was appointed ACO Financial Controller by the NAC and has held the position of ACO Director of Finance and Acquisition since October 2022.
In addition to his military studies, Mr. Carrasco holds Masters and PhD in Economics and Business Administration and a postgraduate degree in Procurement, Contracting and Supply Management from the Spanish Association of Procurement and Supply Chain Management Professionals (AERCE). This association also awarded him the Fernández Fábregas Prize in 2009.