C-IED CoE Director

Colonel Javier Sanz Maldonado was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1970. He joined the Spanish Army Officers School in 1990 and was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in July 1995.

As a First Lieutenant, he served in the Combat Engineer Unit of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, holding the positions of Platoon Leader and Chief of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group. Promoted to Captain in 1999, he assumed command of a company within the Combat Engineer Unit of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade.

In 2006, he was promoted to Major and assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer Regiment as Operations Officer. From 2007 to 2008, he attended the IX Joint General Staff Course in Madrid. Upon earning his degree in Defense Studies, he was posted to the Spanish Army Engineers Headquarters in October 2008.

In July 2011, he was assigned to the Spanish Joint Staff, serving as an analyst in the Office of the Chief of the Joint Staff. After two years, he was appointed as the Spanish Defense Staff Liaison Officer to the U.S. Joint Staff – J7 in Suffolk, Virginia, where he served a three-year tour and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.

Upon his return to Spain in 2016, he took command of an Instruction Battalion at the Army Officers Military School. Following this assignment, he was posted abroad as a Counter-IED (CIED) Officer in the Engineering Division at NATO Land Command (LANDCOM) Headquarters in Izmir, Türkiye. After one year, he was appointed Military Assistant and Executive Officer to the Deputy Chief of Staff Plans at the same headquarters.

At the conclusion of this tour in 2022, he was promoted to Colonel and assumed command of the 12th Engineering Regiment in Zaragoza. After completing his command in 2024, he was assigned to the National Defense Superior Studies Center as a member of the High Studies Department.

As of August 1, 2025, Colonel Sanz serves as Director of the Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Center of Excellence (CoE CIED).

He has participated in overseas deployments to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Peru, and Afghanistan as part of various Spanish military contingents.

His military qualifications include: Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Officer, Advanced Engineering Course, NADEFCOL Short Course, General Staff Officer, and various NATO courses in C-IED, Exercise Planning, Crisis Management, and Peace Operations, among others. He is also a graduate of the Flag Officer Qualification Course.

In addition to his military education, he holds a Master’s degree in Security and Defense from the Gutiérrez Mellado Institute.

Colonel Sanz has been awarded four Army Merit Crosses, four NATO Peacekeeping Medals, and the U.S. Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

He is married and has one son and one daughter.