1982 Abitur followed by 1983-1986 studied economics in Munich and Austin/Texas; 1986-1995 command and staff assignments and East German Reconstruction; 1995-1997 general staff training at the German Armed Forces Command and Staff College; 1997-1999 Federal Ministry of Defense, GO StvGenInspBw; 1999-2002 SFOR deployment, EU Council, WEU HQ, NATO HQ Brussels; 2002-2004 commander Rocket Artillery Training Battalion (MARS); 2004-2005 deployments to Düsseldorf and 2. Foreign deployment EUFOR as G3 7th Armored Division; 2006 Federal Ministry of Defense, promotion to Colonel i.G.; 2006 to 2009 NATO HQ Mons, Executive Officer Chief of Staff SHAPE, numerous deployments to ISAF/AFG and the Balkans; 2009 Command Operational Leadership Ulm.
Since 2009 directly elected member of the Bundestag constituency Aalen-Heidenheim; since April 2014 chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Foreign Affairs Committee; since November 2018 chairman 8th and 9th advisory board Federal Academy for Security Policy (BAKS); November 2020 to March 2022 chairman of the Parl. Kontrollgremium; since March 2022 Deputy Chairman of PKGr; Spokesman for Crisis Prevention of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group; Full Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee; Full Member of the Joint Committee and PKGr.
Membership in other parliamentary bodies: German delegation to the Euromed Parliamentary Assembly; German delegation to the CFSP/GSDP Interparliamentary Conference;
Honorary activities: Spokesman of the 9th Advisory Board of the Federal Academy for Security Policy; Member of the Board of the German-Atlantic Society; Sportkreisrat im Sportkreis Heidenheim e.V.; Member of the Board of Trustees of Aalen University.
Memberships: Atlantik-Brücke, trilateral commission, ECFR, ELN, Lions-Club, Bundeswehr-Sozialwerk, Clausewitz-Gesellschaft, vdK.
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