The last army commander of the Austrian Armed Forces, General in Ruhe Johann Philipp, has died at the age of 94.
Defence Minister Klaudia Tanner is deeply saddened: “General Johann Philipp was a brilliant forward thinker and also the founder of the modernization of the Theresian Military Academy, as a result of which many outstanding troop and general staff officers retired. As army commander, he contributed significantly to the work of a strong Austrian Armed Forces and received many awards for his numerous achievements. In General Johann Philipp, the Austrian Armed Forces have lost a conscientious and exemplary commander. My condolences go to his wife and his entire family.” General Johann Philipp began his military career in 1955 when he joined the Austrian Armed Forces. After joining, he graduated from the Theresian Military Academy in December 1957 as the best of his year and with the rank of lieutenant. After successfully completing the 4th General Staff Course, he was promoted to Captain of the General Staff on September 30, 1966. In the years that followed, Philipp took part in several deployments abroad as part of United Nations peacekeeping missions.
In 1961, he attended a staff officer course for pioneers in the USA and completed the “Regular Course” at the Command and General Staff College in Fort Leavenworth, northwest of Kansas City, in 1967/68. In 1969 he was a member of the staff of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on Cyprus. In 1975, he was deployed to the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights in Syria, where he served as commander until 1979. From 1980 to 1984, Johann Philipp served as commander of the Theresian Military Academy. On December 20, 1984, he was appointed army commander and promoted to general at the same time. He retired in 1991. By modernizing the study regulations at the Theresian Military Academy, General Philipp put the training on a modern basis. In addition, he also included professional non-commissioned officers as instructors in the practical officer training. Called the “father of the militia” by some, he also revolutionized militia training. The outward expression of this was joint mustering and joint training in the areas of tactics and the planning and execution of exercises. https://militaeraktuell.at/rheinmetall-experte-was-tut-sich-in-der-ukraine/ General Johann Philipp received numerous national and international awards. These include the Grand Decoration of Honor in Gold for Services to the Republic of Austria and the “Ordre national du Mérite de la République Française” (French Order of Merit).
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