Robert Brieger

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General Robert Brieger (2019)

Robert Brieger (born November 21, 1956 in Vienna ) is an officer in the Austrian Armed Forces with the rank of General and successor to Othmar Commenda as Chief of the General Staff .

career

After graduating from high school, Brieger joined the Austrian army in 1975. From 1976 to 1979 he graduated from the Military Academy in Wiener Neustadt , arm of the tank. After completing officer training, Brieger first served as the commander of a reconnaissance platoon in Mautern on the Danube , then as a communications officer and later as a company commander in Zwölfaxing . From 1985 to 1988, Brieger completed the general staff course, after which he was employed in various staff functions.

Brieger gained international experience with the German Federal Armed Forces and at the NATO Defense College in Rome . From 2001 to 2002 Brieger was in command of the Austrian contingent in Kosovo , and from 2011 to 2012 in command of the EUFOR troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina . Between his missions in the former Yugoslavia, Brieger was head of the Basic Operations Group from 2008. In this role he was responsible for planning the Austrian participation in the UN mission in Chad .

Most recently, Brieger held various positions in the Ministry of Defense. Among other things, he served as Head of the Logistics Group from 2016 and as Chief of Staff of the Defense Minister from 2017. The decision to make Brieger the successor to Othmar Commenda, who is retiring for reasons of age, as Chief of Staff of the Federal Army, was made on July 16, 2018. His inauguration took place on July 27. Brieger was the clear favorite in the race for Commenda's successor.

program

Brieger is considered conservative and national, but not a partisan. Former superiors report that Brieger is “not red, black or blue, but primarily red-white-red”. Observers in the media assume that Brieger owes his promotion by Mario Kunasek and the Federal Government Kurz I to his proximity to the FPÖ . Army ministers from other parties would probably have preferred other candidates, with specific names being rumored in this context. Regardless of this, Brieger is recognized as an “unexcited specialist”. The President of the Austrian Officers Association , Erich Cibulka , describes Brieger as "technically indisputable". In one of his first statements as chief of staff, Brieger was in line with the FPÖ by identifying “mass migration” as the “greatest current threat” to Austria's security.

Brieger advocates a significant strengthening of the armed forces. He calls for the Austrian army budget to be increased to 3 billion euros per year. Brieger currently sees the armed forces as plagued by money worries, possible cuts are in the room. Instead of cuts, Brieger demands investments in air surveillance, especially the helicopter fleet, in mobility and the protection of soldiers, and more long-term budget guarantees in order to improve planning. In accordance with the Austrian Officers Association, Brieger also demands the extension of basic military service from the current 6 to 8 months.

In general, the chief of staff would like to work towards a repositioning of the armed forces in public. The core constitutional task of armed national defense is to be brought into focus more than in recent years. Brieger criticizes the fact that the armed forces' self-portrayal in the recent past has placed too much emphasis on disaster control and assistance missions. The attempt to “arrive in civil society” and to speak “as little as possible” of “shooting and weapons” has led to a proliferation of “paraphrases” and “euphemisms”, according to Brieger in an interview: “If we do it with shoveling snow, Leaving peace operations and a bit of military sports, we are not credible. We have to revive the self-image that we are Austria's soldiers. "

Private

Brieger, who lives in Eichgraben , is married and has a daughter and two sons. His hobby is hunting.

Awards and decorations (extract)

Web links

Commons : Robert Brieger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d General Mag. Robert Brieger on the website of the Armed Forces, accessed on September 17, 2018
  2. ↑ orf.at: Commenda's successor as Chief of Staff has been determined . Article dated July 16, 2018, accessed July 16, 2018.
  3. ^ New Austro commander for EU troops. Oe24 , December 2, 2011, accessed May 12, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c Ceremonial inauguration of the new Chief of Staff on the website of the Armed Forces, accessed on September 17, 2018
  5. ↑ New Chief of Staff with experience in Bosnia , Die Presse , January 17, 2018, accessed September 17, 2018
  6. ↑ General Commenda resigns , Die Presse , June 26, 2018, accessed September 17, 2018
  7. ↑ Robert Brieger to be the new Chief of Staff , Die Presse , July 16, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  8. ↑ a b New Chief of Staff Brieger: Conservative, correct and red-white-red , Der Standard , July 17, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  9. ^ Robert Brieger: Unagitated specialist as general , Die Presse , July 17, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  10. ↑ a b Brieger: mass migration "greatest threat" to Austria's security , Die Presse , July 25, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  11. ^ The armed forces are fighting for money again , Salzburger Nachrichten , September 7, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  12. ↑ Robert Brieger presented as the new Chief of Staff , Salzburger Nachrichten , July 24, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  13. ↑ a b Brieger wants to position Austria's military as "the armed power" , Der Standard , September 8, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  14. ^ Officers and Chief of Staff for the expansion of military service , Salzburger Nachrichten , July 30, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  15. ↑ Robert Brieger: "Military conflicts in the EU think possible" , Die Presse , September 12, 2018, accessed on September 17, 2018
  16. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB).
personal data
SURNAME Brieger, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian army officer and general
DATE OF BIRTH November 21, 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna