General de División

José Enrique de AYALA

11/23/2001 - 11/24/2003

J. Enrique de AYALA was born in Burgos (Spain) on 20 Nov 1948.
He started his military career in 1965 at the Military Academy (Zaragoza). After graduating as a cavalry Lieutenant in 1969, his first assignment was a member of the Information and Security Section for the Sahara. Between 1971 and 1983 he was a troop and squadron commander in the 4th (Calatrava) and 12th (Farnesio) Cavalry regiments. He also served in Light Cavalry Battalion X.
After obtaining his Diploma at the Staff College in 1985, he was posted as Major in the Army staff’s Operations Division. From 1989 to 1991 he was Deputy Defence Attaché in the Spanish Embassy in Germany (Bonn).
On returning to Spain he served in the Joint Staff, first as Lieutenant Colonel in Plans Division, then as Colonel as Chief Exercise branch in Operations Division.
Between 1997 and 1999 he was Deputy Chief of Staff Support at HQ Eurocorps (Strasbourg).
Returning to Spain once again, he took command of the 9th (Numancia) Cavalry Regiment. After his promotion to Brigadier general he was posted as Deputy Chief of Staff Operations in the Spanish High Readiness Force HQ at Bétera (Valencia).
On 23 November 2001 he was promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed Chief of Staff HQ Eurocorps.
MG AYALA is married to Natividad Santolaya. They have no children.