Helmut Harff
Helmut Harff (born June 5, 1939 in Mönchengladbach ; † September 8, 2018 ) was a German brigadier general in the Bundeswehr .
Life
At the age of nineteen, Harff became an officer candidate in Paratrooper Battalion 262 . He completed the lone fighter course , the parachute jump training and studied business administration as part of the officer training . He attended the NATO Defense College of NATO in Rome. Harff was u. a. Course leader at the Hamburg Command Academy of the German Armed Forces .
In 1990 he became a colonel in command of the Saarland Airborne Brigade 26 . In the 1990s he commanded the German armed forces operations in Somalia (1993-94) and as Brigadier General in Kosovo (December 1998 to June 1999).
Harff also became more or less known in public through his very revealing comments. So had to Secretary of State Peter Wichert to the French allies smooth things over after Harff had philosophized publicly about their weakness. Harff on the French troops in Mitrovica on August 11, 1999 on Deutschlandradio : "I mean, you should definitely make use of the option of a warning shot before you allow yourself to be beaten and beaten."
Another incident in the Kosovo war clearly shows his harsh manner. During the march into Kosovo, Harff found that, contrary to the agreement made with the High Command in Belgrade, a Serbian unit had not cleared the border crossing to Albania near Morina at the agreed time. The general then gave the Serbian commander 30 minutes to leave the positions. When the Serbian colonel was playing for time and still wanted to negotiate, Harff looked at his watch and said: “The deadline is running out. You have 28 minutes left. End of discussion. "
In 2006 Harff clearly criticized the leadership behavior of the commander in the Congo operation, General Karlheinz Viereck .
Until his death, Harff was the managing director of the Defense Committee at the Federation of German Industries .
Awards
- Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
- Cross of Honor of the Bundeswehr in gold
Web links
- Susanne Koelbl: The hawk and his adjutant . In: Der Spiegel . No. 24 , 1999 ( online ).
- Congo commander Viereck: Sharp ruffle from the comrades. In: Spiegel online, August 30, 2006 (statements by General Harff on the Congo deployment of the Bundeswehr in 2006).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Obituary. In: Generalanzeiger. September 15, 2018, accessed September 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Dietrich Alexander: German ex-general criticizes Isaf commander. In: The world. September 11, 2009, accessed July 3, 2015 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Harff, Helmut |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Brigadier General of the Bundeswehr |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 5, 1939 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mönchengladbach |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 8, 2018 |