Werner Freers

Werner Freers, 2009

Werner Freers (center), 2009

Werner Freers (born July 19, 1954 in Hämelerwald ) is a retired general in the Bundeswehr . D. and was in his last employment from December 10, 2012 to July 12, 2017 Chief of Staff at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Casteau near Mons , Belgium.

Military career

Training and first uses

After graduating from high school , Freers joined the Army Aviation School in Bückeburg on July 16, 1973 in the service of the Bundeswehr. From 1974 to 1977 he studied pedagogy at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Hamburg and history at the University of Hamburg and Hanover and graduated as a qualified pedagogue. After studying Freer was formed in 1978 for helicopter pilot and served from 1979 to 1980 as a helicopter pilot in the Army Air Corps squadron 101 in Rheine . He was then transferred to Münster-Handorf , where he served as an operations and training officer ( S3 ) at Army Aviation Command 1 until 1982 .

From 1982 to 1983 Freers served in Rotenburg as an operational officer in the Army Aviation Squadron 11 stationed there. After this assignment, Captain Freers took over the post of squadron captain in Army Aviation Regiment 35 in Mendig from 1983 to 1985 .

Service as a staff officer

From 1985 to 1987 Freers completed the general staff course at the command academy of the German Armed Forces in Hamburg , where he did an annual thesis on the subject of “Weapons for the Third World. The role of the Federal Republic of Germany in global arms exports. " After completing the course, he was promoted to major . From 1987 to 1989 he took over the post of General Intelligence Officer (G2) in the staff of the II Corps in Ulm under the command of Werner Lange . In 1989 he attended a course at the Command and General Staff College of the United States Army in Fort Leavenworth , Kansas .

Back in Germany, Freers was transferred to the Federal Ministry of Defense in Bonn , where he served from 1990 to 1992 as a consultant in the military policy department in the command staff of the armed forces (FüS III 2) under the command of the chief of staff , Peter Haarhaus . Freers remained in the Ministry of Defense and served under Ulrich Weisser from 1992 to 1994 as a consultant in the planning staff of the Federal Ministry of Defense . After these staff assignments, he received a troop command with the aircraft technology department 252 in Laupheim , which he held until 1997. During this time, from December 1995 to February 1996, he worked abroad as part of UNSCOM in Baghdad . The aim of the UN mission was to monitor the destruction of all chemical and biological weapons in Iraq , as well as all missiles with a range of more than 150 km. The task of the German contingent was to support the mission with transport assistance as well as medical evacuation and air transport for the UNSCOM controllers.

Following this mission, Freers took over from 1997 to 1998 in Neubrandenburg the post of Chief of Staff of the 14th Panzer Grenadier Division under the command of Hans-Peter von Kirchbach .

In 1998 Freers returned to the Ministry of Defense and served in Bonn and Berlin until 2000 as head of division in the military policy department in the command staff of the armed forces (FüS III 6) under the command of Jörg Auer . In 2000 he graduated from the National Defense University in Washington, DC

Back in Germany, from 2001 to 2002 he took over the post of Head of Department I Army Development in the Cologne Army Office under the command of the Office Chief Werner Widder .

Subsequently, he was after 2002 Fritzlar placed where he again took a troop command, this time the Luftmechanisierte Brigade 1 of Reinhard Kammerer . During this assignment he completed his second assignment abroad from February to July 2002 as part of the ISAF in Afghanistan . There he was deployed as the deputy commander of the German contingent under the command of Manfred Schlenker . Afterwards Freers returned to Germany.

Service in the rank of general

After his appointment as brigadier general, Freers again led the Kabul Multinational Brigade (KMNB) in Afghanistan from December 17, 2002 to July 17, 2003 , a 3,600-man brigade to which around three-quarters of the German soldiers stationed in Afghanistan belonged at the time. The KMNB was responsible for the tactical leadership of the ISAF and organized a. a. the patrols in the Afghan capital Kabul .

In 2003 he handed over command of Air Mechanized Brigade 1 to Reinhard Wolski . From 2003 to 2005 Freers finally took over the post of Head of Staff Department III Leadership, Conceptual Design and Mission Principles in the Army Command Staff (FüH III) under the command of Hans-Otto Budde and Volker Wieker . From May 1, 2005 to 2007, he was employed as head of the planning department in the command staff of the armed forces (FüS VI). In this position he served under the command of the chiefs of the staff of the FüS, Wolfram Kühn and Manfred Engelhardt .

On October 1, 2007, Freers was appointed major general and finally replaced Volker Wieker. Since then he has served as Chief of Staff in the Army Command Staff under the Army Inspector , Hans-Otto Budde. On March 24, 2010 he succeeded Budde on the post of inspector of the army, and was appointed lieutenant general. As part of the assembly roll call of the Army Command on September 11, 2012 in Strausberg, the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr, General Volker Wieker , transferred the office of Inspector of the Army von Freers to his previous deputy, Bruno Kasdorf . With his appointment as general , Freers moved on December 10, 2012 as Chief of Staff to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Casteau near Mons , Belgium. Freers handed this position over to General Markus Kneip on July 12, 2017 and retired after 44 years of service.

Freers holds a Master of Arts and a Master of Science. His awards include the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon , the Wilhelm Leuschner Medal of the State of Hesse , the Gold Cross of the Bundeswehr , the Medal of Merit 1st Class Afghanistan, the Ordre Nationale du Mérite, Legion of Merit in the Commander level and the NATO Meritorious Service Medal .

Private

Freers is married and has three children.

Web links

• Vita on the SHAPE homepage  ( page no longer available )

Individual evidence

1. ^ SHAPE welcomes the new Chief of Staff. Retrieved July 13, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Big tattoo: Bundeswehr says goodbye to NATO general. Retrieved July 13, 2017 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Manfred Lange	Chief of Staff at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe 2012–2017	Markus Kneip