New Deputy Commander at EUTM Mali
(B2) German Colonel Eckard Böddeker has taken over from Spanish Colonel Vicente Infante as number 2 (deputy commander) of the EU military training mission for the Malian army.
A handover made during a ceremony held at HQ in Bamako on January 1st. This is the prelude to the change of command, which should see Spanish general Fernando Gracia Herreiz take over from Czech general František Ridzák in early January (read: A Spanish brigadier general takes the helm of EUTM Mali in January). He will be followed by a German general.
Böddeker comes from the German Army. He was notably commander of the 285 command support battalion (Führungsunterstützungsbattalions), part of whose personnel was deployed within the ISAF in Afghanistan to provide 'force protection'.
(NGV)
