Virtanen, Vesa Juhani

Lieutenant General

Position

Chief of Defence Command Finland

Date and place of birth

6 May 1966, Oulu, Finland

Family

Married, two children

Career

• Matriculation Examination, Vehkalahti Upper–Secondary 1985
• Officer’s Degree, Military Academy 1986–1989
• Instruction Officer, Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion 1989–1990
• Second in Command, Mortar COY, Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion 1990–1992
• Teacher National Defence University 1993–1995
• UN Military Observer in the former Yugoslavia (UNDF and UNTAES) 1995–1996
• Senior Staff Officer Course and General Staff Officer Course 1996–1998
• Staff Officer, Helsinki Military Province Headquarters 1998–2000
• Staff Officer, Operations Division, Defence Command 2000
• ADC, Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces 2001
• ADC, Chairman of the EU Military Committee, Brussels 2001–2004
• Staff Officer, Operations Division, Defence Command 2004–2005
• Senior Staff Officer, Operations Division, Defence Command 2005–2006
• Senior Staff Officer, Plans and Policy Division, Defence Command 2007
• Commander Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion, Guard Jaeger Regiment 2007–2009
• Special assignment, Personnel Division, Defence Command 2009–2010
• Chief of the Training Section, Personnel Division, Defence Command 2010–2012
• Fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge, US 2012–2013
• Secretary General of the Security Committee, Ministry of Defence 2013–2015
• Commander Kainuu Brigade 2015 - 2017
• Chief of Planning 2017 - 2020
• Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel 2021 -  2022
• Chief of Defence Command Finland 2022 -

Other education

• Master of Social Sciences, International Politics, University of Helsinki 1994

Promotions

• 1986 Second Lieutenant
• 1989 Lieutenant
• 1991 First Lieutenant
• 1993 Captain
• 1998 Major
• 2006 Lieutenant Colonel
• 2012 Colonel
• 2016 Brigadier General
• 2020 Major General 
• 2022 Lieutenant General

Languages

Finnish, Swedish, English, German