General Erhard Bühler assumed command of Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum on 31st May, 2019. He is one of two operational-level commanders in the NATO Command Structure, reports directly to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and is primarily responsible for the security of the Alliance in northern Europe.
Previously, General Bühler served as the Director Defence Plans and Policy and Head of the Directorate General for Planning in the German Federal Ministry of Defence, in Berlin. In this position, he adapted the German Armed Forces to the changing security environment and introduced their new concept as well as their new capability profile. Concurrently, he served as Chairman of the European Defence Agency’s Steering Board for Capability Directors from 2016 to 2018.
General Bühler has held command positions at all levels up to the level of Division Commander. No stranger to NATO he was the Commander of KFOR from September 2010 to September 2011 and commanded NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre, in Norway, from June 2013 to September 2014.
After joining the Armed Forces in 1976, General Bühler completed his basic officer training and obtained a diploma of Mechanical Engineering at the Helmut Schmidt University of the German Armed Forces in Hamburg, in 1981. From 1988 to 1990, he attended the Command and General Staff Course of the Federal Armed Forces Command and General Staff College, in Hamburg. Three years later, in 1993, he successfully graduated from the Command and General Staff Course of the US Army Command and General Staff College, in Fort Leavenworth, USA.
Subsequently, General Bühler served as G3 Operations and later as Branch Head G3 at Corps level, followed by several positions in the German Federal Ministry of Defence as Branch Head for Concepts and Army Development from 2001 to 2002, Senior Military Assistant to the Minister of Defence from 2001 to 2003 and Director Joint Operations Staff between 2006 and 2009.
General Bühler is married to Suzana Bühler and has one son.
Current as of 31 May 2019