Timo Pekka Kivinen (born 8 December 1959) is a Finnish general who served as the

Chief of Defence A chief of defence (or head of defence) is the highest ranked Officer (armed forces), commissioned officer of a nation's armed forces. The acronym CHOD is in common use within NATO and the European Union as a generic term for the highest national ...

2019–2024. Kivinen began his career as a

dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat wi ...

, and was eventually promoted to Brigade Commander of the

Karelia Brigade Karelia Brigade (; ) is one of the three Finnish Army List of Finnish Army units, readiness brigades. It is currently based at Valkeala. With some three thousand soldiers it is the second largest brigade in Finland. It is the only Finnish brigade ...

in 2011, Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategy in 2015 and Chief of Defence Command Finland in 2017.

Career

Kivinen entered military service in the

Finnish Army The Finnish Army ( , ) is the army, land forces branch of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Finnish Army is divided into six branches: infantry (which includes armoured units), field artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, Combat engineering, engineer ...

in 1977, and completed various courses at home and abroad, including the US Army Airborne and Ranger Courses in 1983, the Infantry Captain Course and the United Nation Staff Officer Course in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 1996, the International Visitors Programme in the US in 2003, the National Defence Course in 2006, the High Command Course in 2007 and the Flag Officers and Ambassadors Course, NATO Defence College 2012. He also studied at the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

in 1991–1993 and in the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

in the UK in 2008. He spent his junior years at the Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion, and was deployed in the

Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following several earlier violent incid ...

as Deputy Commanding Officer, Finnish Jaeger Battalion of the

Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina The Stabilisation Force (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian War. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It was replaced by EUFOR Alth ...

(SFOR) in 1997. He also served as an Defence Attaché in Austria, Hungary and Ukraine from 1998 to 2001, and became the Commander of the Utti Jaeger Regiment. He became the Head of Department and Vice President, National Defence University from 2004 to 2007, became the Assistant Chief of Staff, Plans and Policy Division, Defence Command 2009 – 2010, Assistant Chief of Staff, Plans and Policy Division, Defence Command from 2009 to 2010, until he became the Commander of the Karelia Brigade from 2011 to 2014, became the Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategy from 2015 to 2017, became Chief of Defence Command Finland from 2017 to 2019, and became Chief of Defence on August 1, 2019, retiring from that role and from active service on 31 March 2024.

Promotions

First Lieutenant 1982 * Yliluutnantti kauluslaatta

Senior Lieutenant 1984 * Kapteeni kauluslaatta

Captain 1989 * FIN-majuri

Major 1992 * FIN-everstiluutnantti

Lieutenant Colonel 1998 * FIN-eversti

Colonel 2004 * Prikaatikenraali kauluslaatta

Brigadier General 2010 * Kenraalimajuri kauluslaatta

Major General 2014 * Kenraaliluutnantti kauluslaatta

Lieutenant General 2016 * Kenraali kauluslaatta

General 2019

Honors

* Military Merits Medal (''sotilasansiomitali'') * Commander,

Order of the Lion of Finland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

* 1st Class with Grand Star,

Order of the Cross of Liberty The Order of the Cross of Liberty (; ) is one of three official state Order (decoration), orders in Finland, along with the Order of the White Rose of Finland and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The awards of the Order of the Cross of Liberty ...

NATO medal for the former Yugoslavia *

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden''), sometimes translated as the Royal Order of the North Star, is a Swedish order of chivalry created by Frederick I of Sweden, King Frederick I on 23 F ...

References

1959 births Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Living people Finnish generals Chiefs of staff (Finnish Defence Forces) People from Lappeenranta Commanders of the Order of the Lion of Finland Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st Class with a Star Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star {{Finland-mil-bio-stub