Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner has promoted Sylvia Sperandio to the rank of Major General and appointed her to head the Austrian Armed Forces’ new health directorate.

Sperandio, 58, was promoted from Colonel to Brigadier in 2017 and has led the military health service since then. The service was restructured and expanded into a directorate in 2024.

Minister Tanner expressed her pride in having an “experienced officer” and a “strong woman” at the helm of the military’s health services. “I am delighted to have appointed the first woman to the rank of Major General, placing her in such an important military position,” Tanner said. “Women are now at the head of directorates, departments, and even in units of the army.”

Sperandio, who described her new role as “an honour,” will now oversee Directorate 8 – Military Health Services.

“The military health services have continuously developed over the past years,” she said in a written statement. “As a medical professional, I look forward to shaping and modernising this sector further.”

A native of Vöcklabruck, Sperandio has served in the Austrian Armed Forces for more than 27 years. She studied human medicine at the University of Vienna and graduated in 1993. She later earned a doctorate in psychotherapy science and an MBA in Health Care Management. In 1998, she became one of the first women to join Tank Reconnaissance Battalion 3 in Mistelbach.