Home  /   News  /  2024  /  INTERVIEW WITH THE INCOMING NATO CIS GROUP COMMANDER AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF CYBERSPACE DIRECTORATE AT SHAPE

MONS, Belgium – Major General, Jürgen BRÖTZ, gave an interview to the NCISG Public Affairs Office after taking over his command on 19^th April 2024.  

None of my family members had been in the military, so it was totally a new area. I decided to join the armed forces as a soldier with a two-year contract, but immediately recognised that it could be something more serious for me, so I extended my contract and I started my training and education as an Non Commissioned Officer (NCO). After three years as an NCO, I started my career as an officer. I found that being a leader in a formation, or being a leader in a group, and taking over responsibility, trying to act as one part of the overall community to ensure security for our nations, was a privilege. I was content to be an NCO and learn from my initial skills, but throughout I thought that I could perform just as well in an officer’s position. I recognized that if you want to change things, and be creative, you need to have a certain position allowing you to do that. When looking back at my career and the impact I have made, it was definitely starting from being a soldier, improving my skills at different levels taking over responsibility at each level and taking responsibility for delivering tasks and being a leader. It is always about leadership, it does not matter whether it is a company or battalion.

Major General Brötz said:

There is a phrase that states:  If you want to lead people you need to love them. This philosophy is something I have followed throughout my whole career because it expresses exactly what it means to be in a leading position instead of just working at the desk in a purely administrative or managing role without having any leadership function. This was not a part of my vision. There is always a mixture of challenging tasks and leadership functions, working with people to achieve goals. Doing so, there is a corridor with a left and a right border, giving flexibility on how to fulfil the goals. That has been and will be the path of my career for more than 40 years.

Major General, Jürgen Brötz, COM NCISG, DCOS Cyberspace, 3rd May 2024, Mons, Belgium.

The whole interview is available at SCL Magazine: 

Read More at page 16