Lieutenant General Leonīds Kalniņš (born February 13, 1957, in

Tomsk Oblast Tomsk Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It lies in the southeastern West Siberian Plain, in the southwest of the Siberian Federal District. Its administrative center is the types of inhabited loca ...

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

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) is a

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n politician and general. He currently serves as the Commander of the Joint Headquarters. He was born in 1957 in the Russian Pervomaysky District and attended the Dobele R. Eihes Secondary School (now the

Dobele State Gymnasium Dobele State Gymnasium (()) is a gymnasium (school), gymnasium (a pre-university high school) in Dobele, Latvia, founded in 1922. The official language of the school is Latvian, and students can also study English, Russian, and German. Student ...

) in his youth. After graduating in 1975, he began his service in the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

, attending the Vilnius Higher Airborne Defense School. In 1990 he graduated from the Kharkov Military Academy in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. In 1997, he began his service in an infantry battalion in the

Latvian National Armed Forces The Latvian National Armed Forces (), or NBS, are the armed forces of Latvia. Latvia's defense concept is based on a mobile, professional rapid response force and a reserve segment that can be called upon relatively fast for mobilization should t ...

. His first official position he took was as the Chief of the Operational Planning Board of the

Latvian National Guard The Latvian National Guard or NG (, ZS) is a part of the Military of Latvia, Latvian National Armed Forces. The National Guard is a basic land component, consisting of volunteers who perform traditional National Guard (disambiguation), national g ...

Headquarters. In 2006, Kalniņš was appointed as deputy commander of the Latvian Contingent in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Between 2010 and 2013, he studied at the Baltic Defence College in

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and the

United States Army Command and General Staff College The United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC or, obsolete, USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, is a graduate school for United States Army and sister service officers, interagency representatives, and international military ...

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. In November 2016, he was promoted to the post of Commander of the Joint Headquarters of the NAF and was confirmed by the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the p ...

as Chief of defence at the end of the year. He began his duties as NAF Commander on January 27, 2017. He is a recipient of the

Order of Viesturs The Order of Viesturs () is a Latvian state order (honour), order founded in 1938, which was temporarily discontinued in 1940 by the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, Soviet occupation of Latvia, but was re-established in 2004. The order is nam ...

. On November 21st, 2024 he was replaced as the Commander of the National Armed Forces by Major General Kaspars Pudāns.

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1957 births Living people People from Tomsk Oblast Latvian generals {{Latvia-politician-stub