Rudolf Striedinger began his military career in 1979, when he entered military service. From 1980 to 1983 he attended the Theresian Military Academy and in 1983 became deputy com-mander and training officer of a training company in the Landwehrstammregiment 32 in Lower Austria. Afterwards, he was, among other things, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Military Com-mand Vienna and Head of Division at the General Staff of the Ministry of Defence and, from 2002, Head of the General Staff Office and Head of Division of the General Staff Department. In this function, he was responsible for nine years for the direct support of the Chief of Staff and the coordination of the General Staff with the political management of the department, be-fore he became Commander of the Military Command in Lower Austria in 2011. During this ti-me, Striedinger was significantly involved in the activation of the military service. In 2016, he transferred to the Defence Office as military chief. In 2020, he served as Chief of Staff to Defence Minister Tanner, and from July 2021 as Head of the General Staff Directorate as well as Deputy Chief of Staff. He has thus already held top leadership positions for 20 years.