O Official Diary of the Union this Wednesday (28) makes the change of command in the Army official. The first decree exonerates Marco Antônio Freire Gomes from the position of commander of the Army, while the second appoints General Júlio Cesar de Arruda to exercise the function on an interim basis.
Although they were published today, both decrees come into force only next Friday (30). The inauguration date of the new Army commander had already been anticipated by the future Minister of Defense, Jose Múcio, at a press conference yesterday (27) at the Buriti Palace.
Profile
General Júlio Cesar de Arruda is the current head of the Army’s Engineering and Construction department. Born on January 9, 1959, in Cuiabá, he joined the Army in 1975. Two years later, he joined the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras.
During his military life, he served in engineering units in Itajubá (MG), in Rio de Janeiro-RJ, in Cuiabá and in Brasília. As a lieutenant colonel, he was an advisor to the Institutional Security Office of the Presidency of the Republic (2000-2001) and commanded the 1st Battalion of Special Forces, in Goiânia, in the biennium 2005-2006.
As a colonel, he took the Army Politics, Strategy and Senior Administration course. He commanded the Army Administration School / Military College in Salvador, was an instructor at the Reserve Officers Preparation Center in Itajubá (MG), at the Officer Improvement School and at the Army Command and General Staff School.
Abroad, he was a Military Observer for the Second United Nations Verification Mission in Angola (UnavemI I) and advisor to the Brazilian Military Cooperation in Paraguay. He took the Counterterrorism and Interagency Cooperation course at the National Defense University in the United States.
Already as a general officer, he was commander of the Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras in Resende (RJ), commander of Special Operations in Goiânia, director of Higher Military Education in Rio de Janeiro, deputy commander of Land Operations in Brasília, deputy head of the Engineering department and Construction also in Brasília and military commander of the East in Rio de Janeiro.
Among the decorations with which he was awarded are the Gold Military Medal with Platinum Guide, the Order of Military Merit – Grand Cross, the Order of Aeronautical Merit – Grand Officer, the Order of Naval Merit – Grand Officer, and the Order of Defense Merit – Grand Officer.
