Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Alan Geder (born 21 August 1958) is a military leader of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

who served as a commander during the Slovenian War for Independence and acted as

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff ( United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Af ...

in 2018.

Biography

Geder was born on 21 August 1958 in

Lendava Lendava (; formerly ''Dolnja Lendava'', in older sources also ''Dolenja Lendava''; hu, Lendva, formerly ''Alsólendva''; german: Lindau, formerly ''Unter-Limbach'') is a town in Slovenia in the region of Prekmurje. It is the seat of the Municip ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

. He would study in the faculty of sport at Ljubljana University between 1980 and 1984, before going on to joining the Territorial Defence of the Republic of Slovenia in 1988. Alan Geder 2010

In 1991, Geder actively participated in the Slovenian War for Independence, and serving as a commanding officer during the engagements in the area of Gederovci and Gornja Radgona. After the country gained independence, Geder would join the

Slovenian Armed Forces The Slovenian Armed Forces or Slovenian Army (SAF; sl, Slovenska vojska; 'SV'' are the armed forces of Slovenia. Since 2003, it is organized as a fully professional standing army. The Commander-in-Chief of the SAF is the President of the R ...

. From 2004 to 2005, Geder would study at the Army War College, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, and in 2010 he would be promoted to a

. From 2011 to 2015 he would serve as a national military representative to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. Geder would become Slovenia's Chief of the General Staff on 22 February 2018; he would be replacing

Andrej Osterman Andrej Osterman (born October 4, 1960 in Kranj) is the 25th Commander-in-General of the Slovenian Army The Slovenian Ground Force is the primary component of Slovenian Armed Forces. History The current Slovenian Armed Forces are descended f ...

who was sacked after failing a NATO readiness test, who Geder was previously deputy to. While serving in this office, he would make a push to increase the salary of the armed forces after several years of budget cuts in the preceding years. This wage increase push came on the back of comments Geder made about staffing and equipment

deficits The government budget balance, also alternatively referred to as general government balance, public budget balance, or public fiscal balance, is the overall difference between government revenues and spending. A positive balance is called a ''g ...

the military was facing, during which he claimed that military needed an additional 1238 troops to meet staffing demands. He would also continue to work on displaying Slovenia's commitment to NATO, as showcased by his focus on NATO operations when he met with, then

Chair of the NATO Military Committee The Chair of the NATO Military Committee (CMC) is the head of the NATO Military Committee, which advises the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on military policy and strategy. The CMC is the senior military spokesperson of the 30-nation alliance and ...

Petr Pavel Petr Pavel (born 1 November 1961) is a retired Czech army general who served as the Chair of the NATO Military Committee from 2015 to 2018, and as Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Army from 2012 to 2015. He is a candidate in the 2023 Czec ...

. Geder would be replaced on 28 November 2018 by

Alenka Ermenc Alenka Ermenc, born 5 September 1963, is an officer in the Slovenian army and was the first woman to hold the position of Chief of defence within NATO forces. Military career Ermenc's military career started when she became a member of the Sloven ...

, who became the first female

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States) * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afg ...

for a NATO country.

References

1958 births Living people Yugoslav people People from Lendava University of Ljubljana alumni Ten-Day War {{Slovenia-bio-stub United States Army War College alumni Chiefs of the General Staff (Slovenia)