Major General (ret.) Justus Gräbner German Deputy Director
Major General (ret.) Justus Gräbner was born on November 10, 1946 in Helmarshausen, Germany. He joined the German Armed Forces as a conscript in April 1966, serving with the Army Signal Corps in Oldenburg i.O. until 1968, when he completed his reserve officer training. Thereafter, until 1970, he attended the Army’s Officer Candidate School III in Munich.
Until 1978, he served as a personnel officer and company commander with the Signal Corps in Borken and Coesfeld and again as company commander in Coblenz.
After completing the Command and General Staff College in Hamburg in 1980, Major General (ret.) Gräbner became a Fellow and assistant to Lieutenant General (ret.) Professor W. Count Baudissin at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy in Hamburg. From 1981 to 1987 he served as a general staff officer in G3 Operations with the Central Army Group (CENTAG) in Heidelberg and with the III Corps (German) in Coblenz, for three years respectively. From 1987 to 1989 he was battalion commander of Signal Battalion 6 in Neumünster.
He then served as a staff officer in the Joint Staff of the Armed Forces, in the Department of Military Policy, where he was responsible for CSCE affairs and negotiations on the Vienna Document on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures (CSBM). In 1991 he was posted to Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium, first as Chief of Operational Studies and CSCE Affairs, then as Chief of the Office of the German Deputy Chief of Staff. From 1993 until 1995 he was Executive Officer for the Chief of Staff, SHAPE.
From 1995 to 1999 he was commander of Tank Brigade 42, “BRANDENBURG,” in Potsdam, where he was promoted to Brigadier General in 1997. He then served for four years in the newly established NATO Joint Headquarters Southwest (JHQ SW) as Deputy Chief of Staff and Department Head for Operations, Planning, Exercises and Military Cooperation.
Before coming to the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in October 2007, he served for four years as Major General and Commander of Military District IV (southern Germany) in Munich.
Major General (ret.) Gräbner is married and has two children and two grandchildren.
Major General (ret.) Justus Gräbner was born on November 10, 1946 in Helmarshausen, Germany. He joined the German Armed Forces as a conscript in April 1966, serving with the Army Signal Corps in Oldenburg i.O. until 1968, when he completed his reserve officer training. Thereafter, until 1970, he attended the Army’s Officer Candidate School III in Munich.