Wolfgang Kessler (General)

Wolfgang Otto Kessler (born October 23, 1922 in Bodenbach , Sudetenland ) is a German officer ( retired major general ). He was u. a. Commander of the Air Force Officer School and Commander in Defense Division VI.

Life

Wehrmacht

Promotions

• 1942 lieutenant
• 1944 first lieutenant

On November 15, 1940, Kessler joined the Wehrmacht's 71st Aviation Training Regiment in Vienna- Stammersdorf as an officer candidate . In 1941 he began pilot training at Air War School 1 in Dresden-Klotzsche. From 1941/42 he was at the pilot school (C) 11 in Zeltweg and in 1942 at the blind flight school 3 Prague-Ruzin. In 1942/43 he completed operational preparation and combat training on a Junkers Ju 88 .

In 1943 he was a pilot, fighter pilot and technical officer with Kampfgeschwader 30 in Aalborg (Denmark) and Corniso (Italy). In 1944 he became a flight instructor at Kampfgeschwader 30 in Aalborg. From September 1944 he retrained to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and completed his fighter pilot training. Most recently he was a technical officer with Kampfgeschwader 30 in Königgsgrätz, Prague and Rechlin. In May 1945 he was taken prisoner of war .

post war period

From June to December 1945 he was an agricultural laborer with Heinrich Gades in Ehra. From February to May 1946 he was a trainee in the VIBO leather factory and then until 1948 in the Schlettwagner fur dressing shop in Frankfurt am Main. From 1948 to 1956 he was operations manager at Taunuslederwerke AG in Niedernhausen.

armed forces

Promotions

• 1956 captain
• 1959 major
• 1962 Lieutenant Colonel
• 1967 Colonel
• 1974 Brigadier General
• 1977 Major General

In 1956 he joined the Bundeswehr in Fürstenfeldbruck . In 1956/57 he took part in a flying refresher and was a flight instructor at the Landsberg / Lech Air Base near Penzing. In 1957 he attended the Air University of the United States Air Force (USAF) at Maxwell AFB near Montgomery, Alabama. In 1958 he was an assistant teacher at the leadership academy of the Bundeswehr (FüAkBw) in Bad Ems. In 1958/59 he completed the 2nd general staff course (L) at the leadership academy in Hamburg.

In 1959 he became head of the A 3 staff department of the Air Force Group South, later the 3rd Air Force Division in Karlsruhe and deputy head of the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) of the Air Force Group. From 1965 to 1967 he was lecture director at the leadership academy. From 1967 to 1970 he was an advisor to the Air Force Command (Fü L) in Bonn. In 1970 he became a planning staff officer at NATO's International Military Staff in Brussels. 1973/74 he was Chief of Staff at the headquarters of the Allied Air Forces Baltic Approaches (AIRBALTAP) in Karup.

From 1975 to 1977 he was the commander of the Air Force Officer's School (OSLw) in Fürstenfeldbruck. From 1977 until the end of his service life in 1983 he was in command of Defense Division VI in Munich.

family

He is baptized a Catholic, widowed and has two children.

Awards

• 1982: Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class
• 1983: Bavarian Order of Merit

literature

• Dermot Bradley , Heinz-Peter Würzenthal, Hansgeorg Model : The generals and admirals of the Bundeswehr 1955–1999. The military careers. (= Germany's generals and admirals; Part VIb). Volume 2: Hoffmann – Kusserow. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 2000, ISBN 978-3-7648-2370-2 , pp. 613-614.