A German Admiral in the Indian Ocean

(BRUSSELS2) It is Rear-Admiral (wing vice-admiral) Thomas Jugel who is going to head the European Union's anti-piracy force in the Indian Ocean. This from August 13, on the occasion of the four-monthly changeover replacing his Portuguese counterpart, Rear Admiral Alberto Manuel Silvestre Correia. Rear-Admiral Jugel was until now the Director of the NATO Center of Excellence for Confined and Shallow Water Operations in Kiel. He has a past as a mariner in mine hunters and as a teacher.

Born in 1957, Thomas Jugel joined the German Navy at the age of 20, took the course for officers and studied civil engineering at the Bundeswehr University in Neubiberg. He then served on auxiliary ships, minesweeper or mine hunter (Saar, Pluto, Cuxhaven) from 1985 to 1990, before becoming head of the "communications" section of the mine warfare flotilla (1990-1992). After completing the Admiralty Officers Course, he became Deputy Commander of the 5th Minesweeping Wing (1996-1997) then Acting Commander of the 1st Wing (1998-2000) with an interlude as Head of Training in the Mine Warfare Flotilla (1997-1998).

Deputy Commandant of the Bremerhaven Naval School (2003-2004), he headed the "training, exercises and evaluation" division at NATO's Joint Allied Command in Lisbon (2004-2006). On his return to Bonn, he headed the "conduct of Bundeswehr operations" section at the General Staff (2007-2008) then "maritime operations" and "EU/UN missions", at the operational center of the Berlin Joint Staff (2009-2010). He participated in a session of the Center for Advanced Military Studies” (CHEM) and the Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defense”.

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