Brig. Gen. (ret.) Kay Brinkmann became the German deputy director of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in March 2026. He represents Germany in the leadership directorate and in the execution of the center’s mission.

Retired in December 2025 after more than 43 years of service, Brinkmann brings extensive experience in multinational operations, NATO and EU defense planning, military-political affairs, and strategic-level military advising. An armor officer, he has served in senior command and staff positions across the German Army, the Federal Ministry of Defense, NATO, and the United Nations.

In his final assignment, through September 2025, he served as Chief of Staff of the Eurocorps in Strasbourg, France, a multinational land forces headquarters unique for serving both NATO and EU missions. Previously, he was responsible for NATO land force defense planning on the alliance’s northeastern flank during a five-year posting as Deputy Chief of Staff (Plans) at NATO’s Multinational Corps Northeast in Szczecin, Poland. For the United Nations, he served an extended tour in 2014–15 as senior military adviser to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the largest political U.N. mission at the time.

His operational experience includes national disaster relief operations in Germany, NATO’s KFOR mission in Kosovo, and the U.N. mission in Afghanistan.

Brinkmann is a graduate of the 38th German Army General Staff Course. Beyond his German military education, he also completed extensive U.S. professional military education, including the Armor Officer Advanced Course, the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the National War College at the National Defense University. He is also a graduate of the United Nations Senior Mission Leaders Course, the highest-level operational leadership education of the U.N.

His academic credentials include a master’s-equivalent postgraduate diploma in educational science from the University of the Bundeswehr Munich; a Master of Military Art and Science from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; and a Master of Science in national security strategy from the National War College at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated as a distinguished graduate.

Brinkmann strongly believes in the enduring relevance of the transatlantic relationship and the unique German-American partnership guiding the ambitions of the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies. This conviction is derived in large part from having spent his formative years growing up in Oklahoma.