At the end of April, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner bid farewell to the commander of the armed forces, Lieutenant General Franz Reißner, during a ceremony at the Belgian Barracks in Graz.
In addition to an honorary company of the Guard, delegations from the armed forces and successor organizations also took part in the ceremony. The Styrian military band provided the musical accompaniment.
Lieutenant General Franz Reißner has led the armed forces of the Austrian Armed Forces with a steady hand and prudence through various organizational changes. In doing so, he has fulfilled all orders in full, both at home and abroad. Challenges such as the deployment of a contingent to Mali had to be overcome, as did the Covid-19 pandemic, which has now been ongoing for more than two years and has had a significant impact on the operational capability of the Austrian Armed Forces. “On a personal note, I would like to thank you, Lieutenant General, for your commitment and dedication. I wish you all the best for the rest of your life, above all health and joie de vivre,” said the Minister of Defense. About her military career: After her officer training at the Theresian Military Academy in Wr. Neustadt (1976-1979) and the 11th General Staff Course at the National Defense Academy in Vienna (1985-1988), she was deployed on several national and international assignments. From 1996-1998 as a planning officer at the United Nations in New York and from 2003-2004 as a student at the National Defense University/National War College in Washington D.C. From 2006-2008, Reißner served as military commander of Vienna before taking over the command of the armed forces on 10 December 2012. On April 27, 2022, his almost ten years of active service as operational commander came to an end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKsZf-xxlsY He took part in the earthquake missions in Italy in 1980 and Armenia in 1988, as well as the military national defense mission against the former Yugoslavia in 1991. As military commander of Vienna, he led the Wildalpen disaster operation to protect the source area of the 2nd Vienna High Spring Water Pipeline in 2007.
