Johann Frank (born 6 November 1969 in

Leoben Leoben () is a Styrian city in central Austria, located on the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000 it is a local industrial centre and hosts the University of Leoben, which specialises in mining. The Peace of Leoben, an armistice bet ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) is a

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 a ...

of the

Austrian Armed Forces The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of nati ...

. He is the director cabinet of the

Chairman of the European Union Military Committee The Chairman of the European Union Military Committee (CEUMC) is the four-star rank officer representing and presiding over the European Union's (EU) Military Committee (EUMC), composed of the chiefs of defence (CHODs) of the EU member states. ...

(since June 2022) and supports

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Robert Brieger Robert Brieger (born 21 November 1956) is a General of the Austrian Armed Forces and the current Chairman of the European Union Military Committee The Chairman of the European Union Military Committee (CEUMC) is the four-star rank officer re ...

, who took over the chairmanship of the EU Military Committee from that date. From 2020 to 2022, he was director of the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management at the ''National Defence Academy'' in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. From 2014 to 2020, he held the position of

Security policy Security policy is a definition of what it means to ''be secure'' for a system, organization or other entity. For an organization, it addresses the constraints on behavior of its members as well as constraints imposed on adversaries by mechanisms ...

director at the

Federal Ministry of Defence The Federal Ministry of Defence (german: Bundesministerium der Verteidigung, ), abbreviated BMVg, is a top-level federal agency, headed by the Federal Minister of Defence as a member of the Cabinet of Germany. The ministry is headquartered at ...

(in Austria: BMLV) and was a permanent member of the National Security Council (NSC) and the Council for

integration Integration may refer to: Biology *Multisensory integration *Path integration * Pre-integration complex, viral genetic material used to insert a viral genome into a host genome *DNA integration, by means of site-specific recombinase technology, ...

and

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

(German: ''Rat für Integration und Außenpolitik, RIA'').

Career

Frank graduated from the military

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

(German: ''Militärrealgymnasium'') in

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; ; Central Bavarian: ''Weana Neistod'') is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land Distr ...

in 1988 and attended the

Theresian Military Academy The Theresian Military Academy (german: Theresianische Militärakademie, TherMilAk) is a military academy in Austria, where the Austrian Armed Forces train their officers. Founded in 1751, the academy is located in the castle of Wiener Neustadt ...

from 1989 to 1992. He became a

company commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by countr ...

and teaching officer at the CBRN Defence School of the Austrian Armed Forces, followed by the appointment as deputy head of the CBRN Defence School in 1998. In 1999, he moved to the

military policy Military policy (also called defence policy or defense policy) is public policy dealing with multinational security and the military. It comprises the measures and initiatives that governments do or do not take in relation to decision-making and ...

area in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Defence. After working in the ''Security Policy Department'' of the Federal Chancellery, he was promoted to head of the ''Office for Security Policy'' in the Federal Ministry of Defence in 2008. He was appointed as head of the ''Security Policy Directorate'' and Defence Policy Director of the Federal Ministry of Defence in 2014 and promoted to Major General (MG). During this time, he was instrumental in the conception of fundamental Austrian strategy documents such as the ''Austrian Security Strategy'' and the ''National Defence Sub-Strategy''. He paid special attention to deepening regional defence cooperation. Frank was active in establishing the

Central European Defence Cooperation The Central European Defence Cooperation (CEDC) is a military collaboration consisting of the Central European states of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia. Poland has an observer status in this cooperative framewo ...

(CEDC), in which Austria, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

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, an ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

participate. In addition, Frank particularly supported the ambition of bringing the

Western Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whol ...

states closer to the European Union (EU) and the security policy engagement of the Federal Ministry of Defence in

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, M ...

. In 2018, Frank took over the management of the BMLV's (i.e. MoD's) internal coordination of the Austrian EU Council Presidency, having already served as Austria's high-ranking representative at EU meetings through his function as Security Policy director. As director of the ''Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management'' at the ''National Defence Academy'', his main areas of work were the increased orientation of the institute towards policy advisory tasks, the expansion of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

expertise and

basic research Basic research, also called pure research or fundamental research, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied rese ...

in the field of intellectual defence (German: “Geistige Landesverteidigung”). Frank received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

in 2002. From 2007 to 2009 he completed the

Master of Advanced Studies A Master of Advanced Studies or Master of Advanced Study (MAS, M.A.S., or MASt) is a postgraduate degree awarded in various countries. Master of Advanced Studies programs may be non-consecutive programs tailored for "specific groups of working pro ...

Security Policy and Crisis Management at the ETH Zurich. He has also participated in international security policy courses and training, including the Senior Executive Course in National and International Security at the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

, as well as at

RAND The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is finan ...

and the European Security and Defence College (ESDC). In 2008 and 2013, Frank was a lecturer on international and European security policy at the Karl Franzens University in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

. Johann Frank is married to Iris Frank and father of two children.

Memberships

* Austrian Academy of Sciences * Corresponding Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the

European Forum Alpbach The European Forum Alpbach (EFA) is an Austrian nonprofit organisation and foundation based in Vienna, Austria. It is best known for hosting the event of the same name in the village of Alpbach. It is an interdisciplinary platform for science, p ...

* International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) * Science Commission at the BMLV (i.e. Austrian MoD)

Publications

List of all publications (as editor and author) by Major General Frank within the framework of the Austrian MoD
* From 2010 to 2014, Frank was editor of the series ''"Sicherheit und Strategie"'' (i.e. Security and Strategy). * Since 2015, he has been editor of the ''"Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau"'' (i.e. Annual Security Policy Forecast) of the Austrian Ministry of Defence:
Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2015

Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2016

Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2017

Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2018

Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2019

Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2020

Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2021

Risikolandschaft Österreich 2022 (Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2022)

References

External links

* Intervie
"Sicherheitspolitischer Experte warnt vor Risiken durch Corona"
("Security policy expert warns of risks from Corona", 4 Mai 2020)
22nd Europe Forum at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna
(16 November 2018) * Vide
"Sicherheitspolitische Jahresvorschau 2018"
(18 January 2018) * Vide
"Bundesheer spürt Kampfstoffe für EU und NATO auf"
("Austrian Armed Forces track down warfare agents for EU and NATO", with MG Frank, 4 September 2018) * Intervie
"Sicherheitspolitischer Jahresauftakt 2020"
(16 January 2020)
Twitter account of Major General Frank

CV of Johann Frank 2021
* Vide
"Lecture and discussion with Prof. Dr Herfried Münkler"
at the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management chaired by Major General Frank (11 November 2021)
Image-Video of the Institute for Peace Support and Conflict Management
with Major General Frank (April 2022) {{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Johann 1969 births Living people Austrian generals Theresian Military Academy alumni