Protecting Europe in Turbulent Times
Bucharest Leaders Summit: Enduring Power of Solidarity
Speakers 24 May 2022

Brigadier General Ovidiu LUNGU, 1st Mechanized Brigade Commander

BG Ovidiu Lungu was appointed as Brigade Commander of 1st Mechanized Brigade on September 01st, 2021.
He is a command and staff officer with more than 25 years of experience as commander at different levels of command and as staff officers in operation and planning sections at tactical and joint level. He was commissioned in 1995 as second lieutenant and got his first appointment in a field artillery battalion.
His professional experience includes appointments at tactical and operational level within the Romanian Armed Forces. Between 1997 and 2007 served in 2nd Infantry Battalion „Călugăreni” where he was appointed in different leadership positions like antitank platoon leader, antitank battery commander and battalion S3 - Operations. During this period, he deployed with the battalion in 2005 in Dhi Qar province, Iraq at Antica Babilonia mission as S3 staff officer, and in 2006, as S3, in Zabul province, Afghanistan at ISAF mission. Starting with 2007, BG Ovidiu Lungu was assigned in different staff position at ROU Land Forces HQ in G3 and G5 sections, and in September 2010 he was promoted as Chief of G5 - Plans at ROU Land Component Command. In 2011, he deployed again in Kandahar, Afghanistan, this time as liaison officer in the Romanian General Staff Liaison Team to RC - South / ISAF.
In September 2013, BG Lungu was appointed as Commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion „Călugăreni”. During his command, he participated with the battalion in few combined multinational exercises such as: Saber Junction 14 - JMRC/Hohenfels, Germany, September 2014; Platinum Eagle 15 - Babadag Training Area, Romania, May 2015 and Histria 15 - Feteşti, Romania, September 2015. In 2016, BG Lungu deployed in Afghanistan with 2nd Infantry Battalion „Călugăreni”, at NATO Resolute Support Mission, as KAF Force Protection battalion commander.
At the operational level, his professional experience consists in leading the ROU Joint Operational Planning Group as Head of J5 - Operational Planning at ROU Joint Force Command between January 2017 and November 2018.
Starting with November 2018 until September 2021, BG Lungu acted as Chief of Staff of the HQ MND SE from Bucharest, the highest NATO headquarters from Romania.
BG Lungu military education includes, Command and General Staff Officer Course, US ARMY Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth (class of 2010), Advanced Joint Operations Staff Officer Course (2014), National War College (class of 2018), National Defense University, Fort McNair, Washington DC, from where he earned his Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy, and Post university Continue Professional Development “Security and good governance” - 2020/Romanian National Defense University. In addition, he has a bachelor’s degree in social management, and a master degree in Geopolitics and International Relations.
BG Lungu awards and decorations include Non-Article 5 Medal relating to NATO Operations in Afghanistan, ROU Land Forces Emblem of Honor, ROU General Staff Emblem of Honor, ROU Armed Forces Emblem of Honor, Humanitarian Actions Emblem of Merit, and the Honorable Order of Saint Barbara.
BG Ovidiu Lungu was born in 1973, in Ploieşti, Prahova County. He is married and has a son.