Helge Hansen (general)
Encyclopedia
Helge Hansen is a retired general
who served in the German Army
within the Bundeswehr
. From 1992 to 1994 he was the Inspector of the Army
and from 1994 to 1996 he was Commander Allied Forces Central Europe
within NATO.
and entered the Bundeswehr
in 1957 as an officer cadet
. He trained with the Panzergrenadier
corps. In 1959 he was promoted to second lieutenant (Leutnant) and was employed as a platoon commander in a Panzergrenadier battalion
. Six years later, in 1965, Hansen was promoted to captain (Hauptmann) and took over the post of a company commander
for two years within 173rd Panzergrenadier Battalion in Hamburg
. From 1967 to 1969 he attended the General Staff
course at the Bundeswehr Staff College in Hamburg as a major
and was awarded the General Heusinger Prize as the best student of his year. Thereafter he was appointed as the G1 personnel staff office in the 12th Armoured Division in Veitshöchheim
. From 1971 to 1972 Hansen attended the NATO Defence College in Rome and afterwards served as a staff officer in the Federal Ministry of Defence
in Bonn
.
From 1974 to 1977 Hansen commaned the 312th Panzergrenadier Battalion in Delmenhorst
as a lieutenant colonel (Oberstleutnant
). After this command Hansen was posted in 1977 to Brunssum
in the Netherlands where he served as a staff officer in the Headquarters of the Allied Forces Central Europe
within NATO. Returning to Germany he then served as the department head for military-political policy in the Defence Staff in Bonn under General Inspector Jürgen Brandt.
) Hansen took over Panzerlehrbrigade 9
in Munster from 26 September 1980 to 11 October 1982. In 1982 he was promoted to brigadier general (Brigadegeneral). Next Hansen was posted from October 1982 to März 1984 as the divisional head of military politics in the office of the Permanent Representative
of the Federal Republic of Germany with NATO in Brussels
. Following that tour Hansen returned to Germany and took over the 1st Armoured Division in Hanover
on 1 May 1985 in the rank of major general (Generalmajor) from Henning von Ondarza and commanded the division until 30 September 1987. From 1 October 1987 to 30 September 1990 Hansen commanded the German III Corps
as a lieutenant general (Generalleutnant) in Koblenz
.
In October 1990 Hansen again took over a NATO post, this time in the NATO Headquarters in Europe (SHAPE
) in Mons
in Belgium. Until spring 1992 he acted as the Deputy Chief of Staff, responsible for planning and operations under general
s Hans-Henning von Sandrart and Henning von Ondarza.
When Generalleutnant Jörg Schönbohm
was appointed as Secretary of State
, Hansen filled the vacant post of Inspector of the Army
on 18 February 1992, where he stayed until 21 March 1994 führte. As Inspector he launched Army Structure V. But he could not see this through as he did not stay long in post. On 21 March 1994, after only two years, he handed over to Hartmut Bagger
and, promoted to General
, he made his way to Brunssum, where he took over on 1 April from Henning von Ondarza the post of Commander Allied Forces Central Europe within NATO and commanded it until his retirement in March 1996.
in Oberammergau
.
He mainly acts as the Senior Mentor at the British Joint Services Command and Staff College, the Canadian Forces College, the Austrian Defence Academy and the Bundeswehr Staff College. In 2003 the Royal Military College of Canada awarded Hansen an honorary doctorate in military science. In addition he sits on the board of trustees of the Foundation for Memorial and Peace in the German War Graves Commission
.
In 1999 Hansen was a member of the Weizsäcker Commission, which carried out a review of the Bundeswehr and made recommendations for its future development.
Since 2002 he has been a partner in the firm of ELENXIS Management Advice and advises especially medium-sized companies in the area of business succession.
Hansen is married with three sons.
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
who served in the German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
within the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
. From 1992 to 1994 he was the Inspector of the Army
Inspector of the Army
The Inspector of the Army is the senior serving officer in the German Army of the modern day German Armed Forces or Bundeswehr.He is responsible for the readiness of personnel and materiel in the German Army, in that regard he reports directly to the Federal Minister of Defence...
and from 1994 to 1996 he was Commander Allied Forces Central Europe
Allied Forces Central Europe
Joint Force Command Brunssum is the NATO military command based in Brunssum, Netherlands. JFC-B reports to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe based at Casteau, Belgium. It is one of three operational level commands in the NATO command structure, the others being Joint Force Command...
within NATO.
Training and first commands
Hansen was born on 1936 13 March 1936 in DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and entered the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
in 1957 as an officer cadet
Officer Cadet
Officer cadet is a rank held by military and merchant navy cadets during their training to become commissioned officers and merchant navy officers, respectively. The term officer trainee is used interchangeably in some countries...
. He trained with the Panzergrenadier
Panzergrenadier
is a German term for motorised or mechanized infantry, as introduced during World War II. It is used in the armies of Austria, Chile, Germany and Switzerland.-Forerunners:...
corps. In 1959 he was promoted to second lieutenant (Leutnant) and was employed as a platoon commander in a Panzergrenadier battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
. Six years later, in 1965, Hansen was promoted to captain (Hauptmann) and took over the post of a company commander
Company Commander
A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 350 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons....
for two years within 173rd Panzergrenadier Battalion in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. From 1967 to 1969 he attended the General Staff
General Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
course at the Bundeswehr Staff College in Hamburg as a major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
and was awarded the General Heusinger Prize as the best student of his year. Thereafter he was appointed as the G1 personnel staff office in the 12th Armoured Division in Veitshöchheim
Veitshöchheim
Veitshöchheim is a municipality in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Main, 6 km northwest of Würzburg. In the town is Schloss Veitshöchheim; this summer palace of the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg was built in 1680-82, and was enlarged to its...
. From 1971 to 1972 Hansen attended the NATO Defence College in Rome and afterwards served as a staff officer in the Federal Ministry of Defence
Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany)
The Federal Ministry of Defence is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany...
in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
.
From 1974 to 1977 Hansen commaned the 312th Panzergrenadier Battalion in Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst
Delmenhorst is an urban district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has a population of 74,500 and is located 10 km/6 miles west of downtown Bremen with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the city of Oldenburg is 25 km/15 miles to the northwest. The city has a total area of 62.36 km²...
as a lieutenant colonel (Oberstleutnant
Oberstleutnant
Oberstleutnant is a German Army and Air Force rank equal to Lieutenant Colonel, above Major, and below Oberst.There are two paygrade associated to the rank of Oberstleutnant...
). After this command Hansen was posted in 1977 to Brunssum
Brunssum
Brunssum is a municipality and a town in the province of Limburg, the Netherlands. Brunssum was formerly a center of coal mining in the Netherlands and there are a few active mines remaining in the area...
in the Netherlands where he served as a staff officer in the Headquarters of the Allied Forces Central Europe
Allied Forces Central Europe
Joint Force Command Brunssum is the NATO military command based in Brunssum, Netherlands. JFC-B reports to Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe based at Casteau, Belgium. It is one of three operational level commands in the NATO command structure, the others being Joint Force Command...
within NATO. Returning to Germany he then served as the department head for military-political policy in the Defence Staff in Bonn under General Inspector Jürgen Brandt.
Service as a general
As a colonel (OberstOberst
Oberst is a military rank in several German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark and Norway. The Swedish rank överste is a direct translation, as are the Finnish rank eversti...
) Hansen took over Panzerlehrbrigade 9
Panzerlehrbrigade 9
The Panzerlehrbrigade 9 is a formation of about 5,000 men strong within the German Armed Forces or Bundeswehr, which is subordinated to the 1st Armoured Division in Hanover. The bulk of the brigade is stationed in Munster. Two battalions are based in Neustadt am Rübenberge...
in Munster from 26 September 1980 to 11 October 1982. In 1982 he was promoted to brigadier general (Brigadegeneral). Next Hansen was posted from October 1982 to März 1984 as the divisional head of military politics in the office of the Permanent Representative
Permanent Representative
A Permanent Representative is the head of a diplomatic mission to one of various international organisations. The best known of the organisations to which states send Permanent Representatives is the United Nations; of these, the most high-profile ones are those assigned to headquarters in New...
of the Federal Republic of Germany with NATO in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Following that tour Hansen returned to Germany and took over the 1st Armoured Division in Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
on 1 May 1985 in the rank of major general (Generalmajor) from Henning von Ondarza and commanded the division until 30 September 1987. From 1 October 1987 to 30 September 1990 Hansen commanded the German III Corps
III Corps (Bundeswehr)
III Corps was a corps of the German Army active from 1957 to 1994.The preparation of the staff of the corps took place from 16 March 1957 at Gneisenau-Kaserne, Koblenz; the corps was officially formed on 6th April 1957. Initially, the 2nd Panzergrenadier Division and 5th Armoured Division from the...
as a lieutenant general (Generalleutnant) in Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
.
In October 1990 Hansen again took over a NATO post, this time in the NATO Headquarters in Europe (SHAPE
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe is the central command of NATO military forces. It is located at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons...
) in Mons
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
in Belgium. Until spring 1992 he acted as the Deputy Chief of Staff, responsible for planning and operations under general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
s Hans-Henning von Sandrart and Henning von Ondarza.
When Generalleutnant Jörg Schönbohm
Jörg Schönbohm
Jörg Schönbohm is a German politician and a retired Lieutenant General. He was the first commander of the Bundeswehr Eastern Command in 1990, which supervised the absorption of the East German National People's Army into the Federal German armed forces...
was appointed as Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
, Hansen filled the vacant post of Inspector of the Army
Inspector of the Army
The Inspector of the Army is the senior serving officer in the German Army of the modern day German Armed Forces or Bundeswehr.He is responsible for the readiness of personnel and materiel in the German Army, in that regard he reports directly to the Federal Minister of Defence...
on 18 February 1992, where he stayed until 21 March 1994 führte. As Inspector he launched Army Structure V. But he could not see this through as he did not stay long in post. On 21 March 1994, after only two years, he handed over to Hartmut Bagger
Hartmut Bagger
Hartmut Bagger is a retired German general. He served as Chief of Staff of the Army from 1994 to 1996 and Chief of Staff of the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, from 1996 to 1999.- Biography :...
and, promoted to General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
, he made his way to Brunssum, where he took over on 1 April from Henning von Ondarza the post of Commander Allied Forces Central Europe within NATO and commanded it until his retirement in March 1996.
In retirement
After retiring from the Army, Hansen called by Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), ran the "Senior Mentor" seminars for "operational art" for higher NATO leadership forces as well as courses on operational planning for staff officers at the NATO SchoolNATO School
NATO School is NATO's primary training and education centre on the operational level, the only one of its kind in the world. The school started with two courses in 1953 and now offers over 90 different courses to Alliance members and partners on subjects related to NATO's policies, strategies,...
in Oberammergau
Oberammergau
Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The town is famous for its production of a Passion Play, its woodcarvers, and the NATO School.-Passion Play:...
.
He mainly acts as the Senior Mentor at the British Joint Services Command and Staff College, the Canadian Forces College, the Austrian Defence Academy and the Bundeswehr Staff College. In 2003 the Royal Military College of Canada awarded Hansen an honorary doctorate in military science. In addition he sits on the board of trustees of the Foundation for Memorial and Peace in the German War Graves Commission
German War Graves Commission
The German War Graves Commission is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa...
.
In 1999 Hansen was a member of the Weizsäcker Commission, which carried out a review of the Bundeswehr and made recommendations for its future development.
Since 2002 he has been a partner in the firm of ELENXIS Management Advice and advises especially medium-sized companies in the area of business succession.
Hansen is married with three sons.
External links
- Official biography
- Interview with Hansen in retirement (focus.de dated 18 March 1996)