Axel-Björn Kleppien

Axel-Björn Kleppien (born September 23, 1939 in Copenhagen / Denmark) is a German general , last rank lieutenant general.

Life

He served in the German Air Force from 1958 to 1999 . His general assignments included planning chief of the Air Force, commander of the 5th Air Force Division Strausberg, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Command and finally Commanding General of the Air Force Command North Kalkar. In this role he was not only deployed nationally, but also as a NATO officer under the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). For him, he headed the Crisis Response Planning Staff of the Air Force (Reaction Forces Air Staff). As a second NATO task, he led from Uedem as Commander Combined Air Operations Center, the air defense over the Benelux countries, northern Germany and from 1998 - as the first NATO commander - also over Poland.

After his retirement he studied American, English and German at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn . In 2010 he received his doctorate on "The War in American Literature".

Services

As commander of the 5th Air Force Division, he was instrumental in the transfer of the parts of the air force / air defense of the National People's Army of the GDR that were worth preserving into the air force. The choice of soldiers eligible for takeover was in his hands.

Publications

• The war in American literature . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2010
• Ways to unity , in: Werner Jarosch (Ed.): Always in action - 50 years of the Air Force . ES Mittler, Bonn 2005
• The development of the self-image of the FlaRak troop , in: Bernd Lemke u. a. (Ed.): The Air Force 1950 to 1970 . Oldenbourg, Munich 2006