Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Richard Rossmanith (born 16 March 1955 in Monheim,

Donau-Ries Donau-Ries (''Danube-Ries'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Ansbach, Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, Eichstätt, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Aichach-Friedberg, A ...

district) is a

German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...

officer and currently Commander of the Multinational Joint Headquarters Ulm in Ulm, Germany.

Military career

Rossmanith joined the Army in 1973, joining a light infantry unit based in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. After attending studies in electrical engineering at

Bundeswehr University of Munich 200px, Entrance to the university Bundeswehr University Munich (german: Universität der Bundeswehr München, UniBw München) is one of two research universities in Germany at federal level that both were founded in 1973 as part of the German Ar ...

, he became commanding officer of Light Infantry Battalion 112 in 1977, stationed in

Regen Regen ( Northern Bavarian: ''Reng'') is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and the district town of the district of Regen. Geography Regen is situated on the great Regen River, located in the Bavarian Forest. Divisions Originally the town consisted o ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. Between 1981 and 1985, Rossmanith served as 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 country, ...

, taking charge of the 2nd and later the 4th companies of the Panzergrenadier Battalion, again stationed in Regen. Following company command, Rossmanith attended the Command and General and Staff Officers' Course in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, from which he graduated in 1987. He served in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, on his first assignment 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 No ...

in 1987, serving as Desk Officer for Politico Military Affairs to the German Military Representative to the Military Committee. Returning to Germany, he served with Armoured Brigade 6, stationed in

Hofgeismar Hofgeismar () is a town in the Kassel (district), district of Kassel, in northern Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km north of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. In 1978 and in 2015, the town hosted the 18th ''Hessentag'' state festival. ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

, in 1989, before being appointed Chief of Staff for 4 Panzergrenadier Division, based in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

. He took up his second assignment to NATO in 1991 and served as a branch chief at Headquarters,

Allied Forces Baltic Approaches Allied Forces Baltic Approaches (BALTAP) was a Principal Subordinate Command (PSC) of the NATO Military Command Structure, with responsibility for the Baltic Sea area. It was in existence from 1962 to 2002 and consisted of the Danish Armed Forces, ...

(BALTAP), in

Karup Municipality Karup municipality was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Viborg County until 1 January 2007. The municipality covered an area of 163 km2, and had a total population of 6,709 (2005). Its last mayor was Kjeld Merstrand, a member of the S ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, where he served until 1993. He went on to serve in a staff position 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 a variety of staff positions, before taking command of Panzergrenadier Battalion 212 in

Augustdorf Augustdorf is a municipality in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has an area of 42.18 km² and about 10,100 inhabitants (2020). History In 1775 Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold Simon August, Count of Lippe (12 ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

, between 1995 and 1997. In early 1997, he served with the German National Contingent of the NATO-led

Stabilisation Force The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It ...

in the

Balkans 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 who ...

, after which he served with the German 7 Armoured Division, based in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, until 1999.

High command

Between October 1999 and May 2003, Rossmanith held a variety of staff posts, after which he took command of 9 Armoured Brigade, based in

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...

, and deployed for a second tour in the Balkans, commanding Multinational Brigade Southwest, part of the

Kosovo Force The Kosovo Force (KFOR) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO-led international NATO peacekeeping, peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Its operations are gradually reducing until Kosovo Security Force, Kosovo's Security Force, established in 2 ...

. He held the command until 2005, when he was appointed Deputy Director, Policy Planning and Advisory Staff at the Ministry of Defence, after which he became Chairman for Deployable Forces Coordination Group at

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) is the military headquarters of the NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO) that commands all NATO operations worldwide. ACO's and SHAPE's commander ...

(SHAPE) until 2009. He then took up his fourth NATO position, as the first-ever Chief of Staff of Deployable Joint Staff Element 1, Allied Land Component Command in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. He took command of the stability division of the

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , comman ...

(ISAF), succeeding Maj. Gen. (ITA Army) Claudio Mora, in October 2010. In December 2012, Rossmanith took command of the Response Forces Operations Command (since July 2013: Multinational Joint Headquarters Ulm) in Ulm, Germany.

Awards and decorations

Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr The Decorations of Honour of the Bundeswehr (german: Ehrenzeichen der Bundeswehr) are a series of military decorations of the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. These honours and awards were introduced in 1980 on the ...

in Gold *

NATO Medal The NATO Medal is an international military decoration which is awarded to various militaries of the world under the authority of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is manufactured by Eekelers-Centini Intl, of Hemiksem, Belgium. Ba ...

German Armed Forces Deployment Medal The German Armed Forces Deployment Medal (german: Einsatzmedaille der Bundeswehr) is a decoration of the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The decoration is awarded for military service in a designated military camp ...

SFOR The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It ...

clasp **

KFOR KFOR may refer to: * KFOR (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, United States * KFOR-TV, a television station (channel 4 analog/27 digital) licensed to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States * KFOR-TV (Nebraska), a defunct ...

clasp **

ISAF ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

clasp * U.S.

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award *Meritorious Service Med ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossmanith, Richard 1955 births Living people People from Donau-Ries Bundeswehr generals People of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Bundeswehr University Munich alumni German military personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) Recipients of the Badge of Honour of the Bundeswehr Lieutenant generals of the German Army Military personnel from Bavaria