Rolf Wagner became the German Deputy Director, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, in October 2022 after retiring from the Bundeswehr as a brigadier general, with 44 years of service.  From 2018 until his retirement in 2022, Deputy Director Wagner served as the Director of Academic Planning & Policy at the NATO Defense College in Rome, Italy—his final assignment, and a fitting end to a distinguished career.

Deputy Director Wagner joined the German Army in 1978 as an Artillery Officer and achieved a Master’s of Science after studying geodesy at the Munich Bundeswehr University. Throughout his career, he served in a myriad of staff, advisory and command positions to include: Special Assistant to the Political Advisor of COMSFOR, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Deputy Political Advisor, HQ SFOR; Commander, 405th Armoured Artillery Battalion (M109 & PzH 2000); Faculty Adviser and Tactics Instructor at the National General Staff Course, and later as the Director of the Army Operations Department, at the Führungsakademie (Armed Forces Command and Staff College), Hamburg, Germany; Assistant Branch Chief with the Policy and Advisory Staff to the Minister of Defence in Bonn, Germany;  Chief Coordinator Policy Action Group, HQ ISAF, Afghanistan; DOS, RFOC in Ulm, Germany; and Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS) “J” Assessments at Joint Force Command Brunssum, Netherlands; Assistant Chief of Staff G3 and later, after promotion to Brigadier General, as the Deputy Chief of Staff (Support), HQ Multinational Corps North East, in Szczecin, Poland.  Deputy Director Wagner attended both the General Staff Officer’s course at the Führungsakademie in Hamburg and the Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and was subsequently selected as a Fellow at the School for Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth where he attained a second Master’s in Military Arts. In 2017 he completed the German Capstone Course at the Führungsakademie, Hamburg, and in 2018, the General’s and Flag Officer’s Course at the NATO Defense College, Rome, Italy.