Jürgen Heiducoff

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Jürgen Heiducoff (born January 19, 1952 in Ramsdorf (Saxony) ) was an officer in the NVA and the Bundeswehr and is a freelance author.

Professional background

After passing the Abitur in 1971, he studied at the Air Force / Air Defense Officer College Franz Mehring of the National People's Army in Kamenz . In 1974 he became a lieutenant and university engineer for leadership technology and served in the radio engineering troops . From 1977 to 1981 he studied at the Military Academy of the Air Force "JA Gagarin" in Monino near Moscow . In 1981 he became a graduate military scientist. Until 1983 Heiducoff worked as an officer in operational and tactical training ( staff department - G3 ) in the command staff of the 3rd Air Defense Division in Neubrandenburg . In 1987 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Until 1988 he was involved in the interaction of the front and army aviation forces with the land forces as head of the combat command group. In 1988 he became head of the operational and tactical training subdivision in the command of the air force and air defense of the NVA.

After 1990 Heiducoff was accepted into the Bundeswehr as a temporary soldier and later as a professional soldier . He was u. a. Arms control officer at the Bundeswehr Verification Center (ZVBw). In 1995/96 he served as a military observer for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) in the Chechen war. In 2004/05 he was deployed to the Kabul Multinational Brigade in Kabul . 2006–2008 he was military policy advisor at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Afghanistan , then until 2011 head of the “Nuclear Arms Control” department at the ZVBw.

Positions

As a military observer for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the Chechen war in 1995/96, Heiducoff criticized first internally and then publicly the actions of the Russian associations against the Chechen separatists and civilians. In 1996 he told the newspaper Die Welt that both sides were interested in an escalation of the Chechnya conflict and accused the Russian armed forces of violating human rights.

During his almost three years of service as an officer in the Bundeswehr in Afghanistan, he again witnessed his view of disproportionate military violence against civilians, but this time by the Western units. As a military policy advisor to the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Afghanistan, he repeatedly criticized the latter in analyzes and assessments and recommended a strategic reorientation that should focus on strengthening civil society, and wrote a letter to the then Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier . This letter, referred to by the media as a “fire letter from Kabul”, was made public and, among other things, was a. discussed in an ARD monitor broadcast on May 31, 2007. This was followed by legal disputes that led to Heiducoff's premature replacement in 2008. A connection between the replacement and his criticism of the warfare in Afghanistan was denied by the employer. Heiducoff represents such a given and points out that no disciplinary violations or errors that should have led to his replacement were asserted against him.

Quotes

“I am increasingly in contradiction to how the own western troops operate in Afghanistan ... I am increasingly noticing that the military situation is being portrayed in an inadmissibly embellished manner. German generals also gloss over or hide their own problems ... It is unbearable that our coalition troops and ISAF are now consciously fighting parts of the civilian population and thus hoped-for germs of a civil society. The Pashtuns must see this as terror! Western fighter-bombers and attack helicopters are spreading fear and terror among the people ... We are about to lose the trust ... of the Afghans due to the disproportionate military force. There is no excuse for the suffering caused by our western military among the innocent and innocent people ... "

Extract from the "fire letter from Kabul"

Private

Jürgen Heiducoff is married and has four grown children.

Book contributions

  • Jürgen Heiducoff: Encounters, experiences, thoughts . In: Heike Groos (Ed.): “That’s also your war!” Fischer-Verlag, Frankfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-596-18892-5 .
  • My mandate: people respect! As a soldier in Chechnya and Afghanistan. 2011.
  • Thoughts in the Far East - Biographical Outlines. 2011.
  • Shadow warriors - between the noise of battle and intrigue. 2011.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jens Hartmann: Yeltsin pushes for military reform. In: The world. July 19, 1996, accessed June 22, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Heiducoff, Jürgen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German officer in the NVA and Bundeswehr and is a freelance author
DATE OF BIRTH January 19, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Ramsdorf (Saxony)