Lieutenant Colonel Denis‑Florin Sandu (Romanian Army)
Lieutenant Colonel Denis‑Florin Sandu currently serves as the Commander of the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU) Romania, being appointed on the position in January 2026. A seasoned Romanian Army officer with over 24 years of service, he brings expertise in both tactical and operational environments. Throughout his career, he has successfully performed various assignments within the Romanian Armed Forces and across NATO Command Structure and NATO Force Structure.

He launched his military career at the “Ștefan cel Mare” Military High School, subsequently graduating from the “Nicolae Bălcescu” Land Forces Academy in 2001 with a specialization in Transportation. He furthered his military expertise at the „Mihai Viteazul” Tanks and Vehicles Training School, in 2002. Throughout his career, he has pursued a track of professional development, including specialized national and international courses, most notably the Advanced Logistics and Transportation Course (2006) in the United States, two LOGREP courses (2009 and 2014) in Romania, and the ACO Combat Readiness Evaluation (CREVAL) Course (2017), organized by NATO School Oberammergau.

Lieutenant Colonel Sandu launched his career in the 82nd Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment, where he served as a maintenance platoon commander, followed by staff responsibilities in the 83rd MLRS Battalion and later as the Head of Logistics Planning Section within the 85th Logistics Support Battalion. Between 2010 and 2015, he served within the Logistics Directorate of the Romanian Operational Command Center, which was later reorganized as the Joint Forces Command, where he contributed to planning and sustainment activities for the Romanian forces deployed in international theaters.

In 2016, he transitioned to the multinational arena, serving for three years as the Head of the Lessons Learned Section within the Plans and Training Directorate at Multinational Division South-East. He further expanded his international expertise through a subsequent three-year assignment as a Staff Officer within the Training and Exercises Directorate at NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command (JFC) Naples. Building on the expertise gained during these international postings, he returned to Romania in 2022 as Head of the Organizational Development and Experimentation Branch at Land Forces Headquarters.

While in that role, he was admitted to the National Defence University “Carol I” and graduated in 2024 with a Master’s degree in Combined Arms Leadership. This academic achievement led to his assignment as head of the Logistics Management Branch in the G4 Directorate of the Land Component Command Headquarters which he held for two years. His long-standing commitment is reflected in his receipt of the Honorary Sign “In the Service of the Homeland” for 15 and 20 years of military service.

A designated Veteran of the Theaters of Operations, his combat experience includes a deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan (August 2012 to January 2013), as part of the International Security Assistance Force. His distinguished service during this mission earned him both the NATO Non-Article 5 Medal and the U.S. Army Achievement Medal. More recently, his expertise in logistics and planning proved vital during Exercise Steadfast Defender 2021, where he orchestrated, within the JFC Naples OPRs team, the deployment of the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) designated elements to Romania, consisting of troops and equipment from 14 NATO nations. For this contribution he was awarded the Emblem of Merit “In the Service of the Romanian Armed Forces,” 2nd Class. Subsequently, he received the Honorary Emblem of the Romanian Land Forces in 2025, in recognition of his commitment at the Land Component Command.

Lieutenant Colonel Sandu was born in 1978 in Săveni, Botoșani. He is married to Mihaela, and they have one daughter, Maria-Izabela.