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Brigadier General Ansgar Meyer
Photo: Hf Rene Teich / Bundeswehr / dpa
Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer receives the Special Forces Command (KSK) of the Bundeswehr, but the top of the controversial elite unit is being rebuilt.
The head of the last German contingent in Afghanistan, Brigadier General Ansgar Meyer, becomes the new commander of the KSK.
On September 1, Meyer succeeds Brigadier General Markus Kreitmayr, who is leaving the association after a good three years at the helm and moving to a desk post in the Armed Forces Office.
In the early morning, Kramp-Karrenbauer briefed the defense committee representatives about the personnel decision.
Kreitmayr leads a reform process of the KSK that has been assessed as successful following right-wing extremist incidents.
However, he himself has come under fire for having initiated a collection campaign in the KSK for ammunition that has disappeared and has not been stored according to the rules (read more here).
The public prosecutor's office in Tübingen is investigating the initial suspicion of a violation of Section 40 of the Military Penal Act, as the Chief Public Prosecutor Matthias Grundke had declared at the beginning of April.
This is comparable to the criminal offense of obstruction of punishment.
Kreitmayr is considered innocent until the proceedings have been legally concluded.
So far, he has only commented on the matter internally, but not publicly.
"It is clear that we need the unique military capabilities that are available in the KSK," said the CDU politician on maintaining the KSK.
"If the association consistently continues on the path it has chosen, it will continue to be a strategic instrument of security precautions within the national framework and in association with our partners."
The minister had visited the association on Monday in its home barracks in Baden-Württemberg.
»After my visit to Calw yesterday and the discussions with the men and women of the KSK, I am convinced that we are on the right track.
I noticed that a positive change had started in the association, «said Kramp-Karrenbauer.
“The rules that apply to the entire Bundeswehr are now also being adhered to by the KSK.
The more than 60 measures for the reform are beginning to take effect and the reform mandate is being filled with life in Calw. "
as / mgb / dpa
