Wolfram Kühn (born 7 November 1952) is a retired

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

. He served as Deputy

Inspector General of the Bundeswehr The Inspector General of the (), is the highest-ranking military position held by a commissioned officer on active duty in the , the present-day armed forces of Germany. All Inspectors General have been of the rank of a ( four-star) general o ...

and Inspector of the Joint Support Service from 2006 to his retirement in 2012.

Military career

Kühn entered the

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

in 1972. After basic naval officer training, he studied Economics and Business Administration at the Bundeswehr University of Munich. After graduating in 1977 he served on the

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

Schleswig-Holstein as a

CIC CIC may refer to: Organizations Canada * Cadet Instructors Cadre, a part of the Canadian Armed Forces * Canadian Infantry Corps, renamed in 1947 to Royal Canadian Infantry Corps * Canadian International Council * Canadian Islamic Congress * Chemi ...

officer. In 1979 he was promoted to ''

Kapitänleutnant , short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( or ''lieutenant captain'') is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the modern German . The rank is rated Ranks and insignia of NATO navies' officers, OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to i ...

'' (captain lieutenant) and assigned to the Territorial Command of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the commander, who was also the highest German responsible within NATO's

Allied Forces Northern Europe Allied Forces Northern Europe (AFNORTH) was the northern Major Subordinate command (military formation), Command of NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, Allied Command Europe (ACE), located at Kolsås outside Oslo. In the case of war ...

(AFNORTH). From 1982 to 1984 Kühn served as department head of the supply department on

Frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

Rheinland-Pfalz. Selected for the Admiral Staff Officer Course at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr it was during this course that he was promoted to ''

Korvettenkapitän (; ) is the lowest ranking Field officer, senior officer in the German navy. Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. Address The official manner, in li ...

'' (corvette captain). From 1986 to 1987 Kühn served as an instructor and company commander at the Navy Supply School in List (

Sylt Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...

). From 1988 to 1989 he again was posted at the Territorial Command of Schleswig-Holstein, this time as a logistics

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large milita ...

(G4). Later he served at the

Ministry of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

until 1991. From 1991 until 1993 Kühn was assigned to the Navy Supply School as Division Commander and Vice Commander of the school. During the next two years he again served at the Ministry of Defense within the Navy Staff and was responsible for general issues, logistics and procurement. In 1994 he studied at the Defence Resources Management Institute (DRMI) of the

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Back in Germany from 1994 to 1997 he served as Chief Financial Officer in the Navy Support Command in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

. From 1997 to 1998 he studied at the

National War College In the United States, the National War College (NWC) is a school within the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active. History The National ...

in Washington, D.C. and gained a Master of Science in National Security Strategy. From 1998 to 2001 he was assigned to the Federal Ministry of Defence as a section chief. From 2001 to 2002 Kühn served as

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the Joint Support Command. From 2002 to 2002 he was Staff Department Chief in the Navy Staff. In 2004 he was Chief of Staff of the

. In 2006 he was promoted to ''Vizeadmiral'' (vice admiral) and appointed Inspector of the Joint Support Service and Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr. On 28 March 2012, Kühn handed over his post to Manfred Nielson, his retirement from military service marked by a ''

Großer Zapfenstreich The ("Grand Tattoo", "Beating Retreat") is a military ceremony performed in Germany and Austria. It is similar to the military tattoo ceremony performed in English-speaking countries, and is the most important ceremonial act executed by the Ger ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhn, Wolfram Vice admirals of the German Navy Living people 1952 births Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Bundeswehr University Munich alumni